US-Iran in direct talks over nuclear program, says Donald Trump

President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the United States and Iran have begun direct discussions on Tehran’s nuclear program. This announcement comes after Iran’s earlier rejection of US attempts to initiate direct negotiations.

“We’re having direct talks with Iran, and they’ve started. It’ll go on Saturday. We have a very big meeting, and we’ll see what can happen,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during talks with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“And I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable,” Trump said. However, the president did not provide further details.

US-Iran Tensions

On March 5, President Trump sent a letter to Ayatollah Khamenei, urging negotiations and warning of the consequences of military action.

In a television interview, Trump said, “I’ve written them a letter saying, ‘I hope you’re going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing.’” Since then, Trump has intensified sanctions and hinted at possible military strikes by the US or Israel on Iran’s nuclear facilities while continuing to advocate for diplomatic talks.

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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has rejected direct negotiations with the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program. “We don’t avoid talks; it’s the breach of promises that has caused issues for us so far,” Pezeshkian said in televised remarks during a Cabinet meeting. “They must prove that they can build trust.”

Iran has long maintained its program is for peaceful purposes, even as its officials increasingly threaten to pursue the bomb. Under the original 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium up to 3.67% purity and to maintain a uranium stockpile of 300 kilograms (661 pounds).

The last report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran’s program put its stockpile at 8,294.4 kilograms (18,286 pounds) as it enriches a fraction of it to 60% purity.

US intelligence agencies assess that while Iran has not yet launched a weapons program, it has undertaken activities that position it closer to developing a nuclear device, should it choose to do so.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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