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Trump says US in direct nuclear talks with Iran Trump says US in direct nuclear talks with Iran
(about 4 hours later)
Watch: Iran, tariffs and hostages - key moments in Trump meeting with NetanyahuWatch: Iran, tariffs and hostages - key moments in Trump meeting with Netanyahu
The US and Iran will hold "direct talks" over a possible nuclear deal on Saturday, says American President Donald Trump. The US and Iran will hold "direct talks" over a possible new nuclear deal on Saturday, says President Donald Trump.
The meeting has also been confirmed by Iran's foreign minister, who said the talks would be "indirect" but could be "as much an opportunity as... a test". Hours after the surprise announcement, Iran's foreign minister said the talks in Oman would be "indirect" but could be "as much an opportunity as... a test".
Trump - who unilaterally pulled his country out of a previous deal with Iran during his first presidency - said discussions would be at "very high level". He warned it would be a "very bad day for Iran" if no agreement was reached. Trump - who pulled the US out a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers during his first term - said discussions would be at "very high level" and that Iran would be in "great danger" if talks were not successful.
Last month, the US president raised the prospect of military action against Iran after its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei publicly rejected the offer of direct talks. Last month, Iran said it was open to the possibility of indirect talks after Trump said he wanted a deal to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and avert possible US military action.
Trump disclosed the talks after a White House meeting with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, who has also previously raised the prospect of attacking Iran to stop it from acquiring nuclear weapons. Trump disclosed the talks after a White House meeting with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has also threatened to strike Iranian nuclear sites.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said: "We have a very big meeting on Saturday [with Iran], and we're dealing with them directly... And maybe a deal is going to be made, that would be great." Iran insists its nuclear activities are entirely peaceful, but it has increasingly breached the restrictions imposed by the existing deal in retaliation of the crippling US sanctions reinstated seven years ago. Iran has also stockpiled enough enriched uranium to make several bombs.
Trump later said Iran would be in "great danger" if the talks were not successful, adding: "Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and if the talks aren't successful, I actually think it'll be a very bad day for Iran." Speaking in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said: "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."
The president did not provide further details about the talks, including how progressed they are or which officials have been involved. "I think everybody 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."
Iran's foreign minister confirmed Washington and Tehran will meet in Oman on 12 April. "But it's getting to be very dangerous territory, and hopefully those talks will be successful."
Abbas Araqchi wrote on X: "It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America's court." Trump later added: "Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and if the talks aren't successful, I actually think it'll be a very bad day for Iran."
Hours later, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said "indirect high-level talks" would take place on Saturday in Oman.
"It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America's court," he wrote on X.
On Tuesday morning, Iran's hard-line Tasnim news agency reported that Araghchi and Trump's Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff would "meet each other indirectly".
Netanyahu said Israel and the US were "both united in the goal that Iran does not ever get nuclear weapons".
"If it can be done diplomatically in a full way, the way it was done in Libya. I think that would be a good thing," he added, referring to the North African country's decision to dismantle its nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programmes in 2003.
Iran maintains several large nuclear sites, including at Isfahan (pictured in 2007)Iran maintains several large nuclear sites, including at Isfahan (pictured in 2007)
In March, Trump sent a letter to Iran's leader via an intermediary from the United Arab Emirates setting out his willingness to negotiate. The announcement of talks marks a significant step forward, but they are certain to be long and difficult.
That offer was rejected by Iran, though its leadership signalled a willingness to discuss a possible deal with the US via a third party. The US and Iran have long been foes and they have not had diplomatic relations since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran.
In March, Trump sent a letter to Iran via an intermediary from the United Arab Emirates setting out his willingness to discuss a deal.
On the day that the letter was delivered, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed it as a "deception of public opinion" and rejected the idea of negotiations.
But at the end of the month, Iran's president said Khamenei had sent a reply to Trump's letter via Oman that left open the possibility of indirect talks.
"We don't avoid talks; it's the breach of promises that has caused issues for us so far," Massoud Pezeshkian told a cabinet meeting. "They must prove that they can build trust."
The contents of the two letters have not been made public, and US officials have revealed few details about Trump's demands.
After Witkoff said in an interview that Trump was proposing a "verification programme" to show Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz clarified that the goal was "full dismantlement".
A senior official at Iran's foreign ministry told BBC Persian on Tuesday that it would never agree to dismantle its nuclear programme, and that the "Libya model" would never be part of any future negotiations.
Curbing Iran's ability to build nuclear weapons has been a key foreign policy goal for the US and its allies for decades.Curbing Iran's ability to build nuclear weapons has been a key foreign policy goal for the US and its allies for decades.
In 2015, then-President Barack Obama made an agreement with Iran under which it would limit its nuclear activities and allow international inspectors into the country to ensure facilities were being solely used for civilian purposes and not weapons production. Suspicions that Iran was using its nuclear programme as a cover to develop a bomb prompted the US, EU and UN to impose crippling sanctions in 2010.
In return, Iran was to be offered relief from sanctions, which have crippled its economy. The 2015 deal that Iran reached with then-US President Barack Obama's administration, as well as the UK, France, China, Russia and Germany, saw it limit its nuclear activities and allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) into the country in return for sanctions relief.
That agreement was co-signed by China, France, Germany, Russia and the UK. However, in 2018, Trump unilaterally abandoned the deal, which he said did too little to stop Iran's potential pathway to a bomb.
However, in 2018, Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the deal, which he had been strongly critical of during his first presidential election campaign. In response to the US sanctions reinstated to pressure it to renegotiate, Iran increasingly breached its restrictions, particularly those limiting the production of enriched uranium, which can be used to produce fuel for nuclear power plants but also to build nuclear weapons.
In the years that followed, Iran has increasingly breached its terms. The International Atomic Energy Agency has warned Tehran has built up large stockpiles of enriched uranium, which can be used to make nuclear bombs. The IAEA warned in February that Iran had stockpiled almost 275kg (606lb) of uranium enriched to 60% purity, which is near weapons grade. That would theoretically be enough, if enriched to 90%, for six nuclear bombs.
In recent months, Trump has repeatedly raised the prospect of negotiating a new agreement with Iran, while threatening military action if one cannot be reached. Israel, which is assumed to have its own nuclear weapons but maintains an official policy of deliberate ambiguity, views a nuclear Iran as an existential threat.
Israel sees preventing its rival Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon as central to its long-term security. It has reportedly weighed up striking its production facilities in recent months. Last year, Israel said it had hit an Iranian nuclear site in retaliation for an Iranian missile attack on Israel, as well as air defences systems and missile manufacturing facilities.
Last year, Israel said it had hit an Iranian nuclear site in retaliation for Iran's earlier missile attack on Israel. Iran can also no longer rely on the threat of deterrence from its regional allies Hamas and Hezbollah, which have been devastated by wars with Israel over the past 18 months.
Speaking at the White House, Netanyahu said: "We and the United States are both united in the goal that Iran does not ever get nuclear weapons.
"If it can be done diplomatically in a full way, the way it was done in Libya, I think that would be a good thing."