Trump tells Fox News Iran can call US if it wants to negotiate

Trump tells Fox News Iran can call US if it wants to negotiate

The US president stresses that Tehran can never have a nuclear weapon, saying there is no reason to meet otherwise.

Donald Trump
US-Iran peace hopes receded after Donald Trump scrapped planned talks in Islamabad involving envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. (EPA Images pic)
WASHINGTON:
US president Donald Trump said on Sunday Iran could telephone if it wants to negotiate an end to their two-month war, stressing that Tehran can never have a nuclear weapon, while Iran’s foreign minister returned to Pakistan for talks despite the absence of US counterparts.

Hopes of reviving peace efforts receded on Saturday when Trump scrapped a visit to Islamabad by his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, even as Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi continued to shuttle between mediating countries.

“If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us. You know, there is a telephone. We have nice, secure lines,” Trump told “The Sunday Briefing” on Fox News.

“They know what has to be in the agreement. It’s very simple: They cannot have a nuclear weapon, otherwise there’s no reason to meet,” Trump said.

Iran has long demanded Washington acknowledge its right to enrich uranium, which Tehran says it only seeks for peaceful purposes, but which Western powers say is aimed at building nuclear weapons.

Although a ceasefire has paused full‑scale fighting in the conflict, which began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb 28, no agreement has been reached on terms to end a war that has killed thousands, driven up oil prices, fuelled inflation and darkened the outlook for global growth.

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