President Trump said Monday that the U.S. had been holding “direct talks” with Iran and that a “very big meeting” involving “very high-level” officials will be taking place this Saturday.
The surprise announcement from Trump follows his repeated warnings that Iran must sign a new nuclear deal or face military strikes.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had ruled out direct talks with the U.S. so long as Trump kept his “maximum pressure” policy in place.
Tehran has not confirmed Trump’s claim that talks had already “started” and would soon ramp up.
Trump emphasized that the talks with Iran will be direct — rather than through intermediaries — and take place “at almost the highest level.”
“I think everyone agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious. And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with, or frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with, if they can avoid it,” Trump said, speaking from the Oval Office alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“So we’re going to see if we can avoid it. But it’s getting to be very dangerous territory, and hopefully those talks will be successful. And I think it would be in Iran’s best interest if they are successful.”
Netanyahu believes the chances of a U.S.-Iran nuclear deal are extremely low, but intended to present what “a good deal should look like” during Monday’s meeting with Trump, a senior Israeli official said.
“Netanyahu want the Libya model. Full dismantling to the Iranian nuclear program,” the official said. Iran denies it wants a bomb, but rejects the idea of shutting down its nuclear program.
The official added Netanyahu wants to reach an understanding with Trump about striking Iran’s nuclear facilities when diplomacy fails.
@Axios, excluding headline
