During a visit on Monday, President Donald Trump announced that the United States and Iran will begin direct negotiations. This surprising development came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington for discussions with Trump.
“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.
This announcement is unexpected, especially since Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had recently dismissed the idea of a new deal with the Trump administration. Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, described direct talks as “meaningless” just a day before Trump’s statement.
The diplomatic effort began two months ago when Trump reached out to Iran with a letter requesting negotiations about its nuclear program. Since then, the U.S. has imposed additional sanctions, intensifying its "maximum pressure" strategy on Iran. Trump has also warned that failure to reach an agreement could lead to severe consequences for Iran, stating, “there will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”
On Monday, Trump expressed hope that a deal could be reached, saying, “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.” He added that the situation is becoming increasingly dangerous and emphasized that a successful negotiation would be in Iran’s best interest.
As the talks approach, the world watches closely to see if this new chapter in U.S.-Iran relations will lead to a breakthrough or further escalate tensions.