By Steve Holland
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, Feb 16 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he would be involved “indirectly” in high-stakes talks between Iran and the U.S. over Tehran’s nuclear program set for Tuesday in Geneva, adding he believed Tehran wanted to make a deal.
“I’ll be involved in those talks, indirectly. And they’ll be very important,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Tensions are soaring ahead of the talks, with the U.S. deploying a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East. The U.S. military is preparing for the possibility of a sustained military campaign if the talks do not succeed, U.S. officials have told Reuters.
Asked about the prospects for a deal, Trump said Iran has long sought a tough posture in negotiations but learned the consequences of that approach last summer when the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites.
Trump suggested Tehran was motivated this time to negotiate.
“I don’t think they want the consequences of not making a deal,” Trump said.
WASHINGTON PUSHES TEHRAN TO FORGO ENRICHMENT
Prior to the U.S. strikes in June, U.S.-Iran nuclear talks had stalled over Washington’s demand that Tehran forgo enrichment on its soil, which the U.S. views as a pathway to an Iranian nuclear weapon.
“We could have had a deal instead of sending the B-2s in to knock out their nuclear potential. And we had to send the B-2s,” Trump said, referring to the bat-winged U.S. stealth bombers that carried out the bombings.
“I hope they’re going to be more reasonable.”
The remarks contrast with those by the U.S. president on Friday, when he embraced potential regime change in Iran and lamented decades of failed talks.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met with the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief on Monday, saying in a post on X he was in Geneva to “achieve a fair and equitable deal.”
“What is not on the table: submission before threats,” Araqchi said.
QUESTIONS ABOUT URANIUM STOCKPILE
The International Atomic Energy Agency has been calling on Iran for months to say what happened to its stockpile of 440 kg (970 pounds) of highly enriched uranium following Israeli-U.S. strikes and let inspections fully resume, including in three key sites that were bombed in June last year: Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation against any attack, which would choke a fifth of global oil flows and send crude prices sharply higher.
Iran held a military drill on Monday in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital international waterway and oil export route from Gulf Arab states, which have been appealing for diplomacy to end the dispute.
Despite Trump’s comments about Iran seeking a deal, the talks face major potential stumbling blocks. Washington has sought to expand the scope of talks to non-nuclear issues such as Iran’s missile stockpile. Tehran says it is only willing to discuss curbs on its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief and won’t accept zero uranium enrichment. It says its missile capabilities are off the table.
Speaking during a visit to Hungary on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said reaching a deal with Tehran would be hard.
“I think that there’s an opportunity here to diplomatically reach an agreement … but I don’t want to overstate it either,” Rubio said.
“It’s going to be hard. It’s been very difficult for anyone to do real deals with Iran, because we’re dealing with radical Shia clerics who are making theological decisions, not geopolitical ones.”
(Reporting by Steve Holland aboard Air Force One, Phil Stewart in Washington and Hannah Lang in New York; editing by Scott Malone and Diane Craft)
Comments