US President Donald Trump stated on Sunday that the United States is engaged in discussions with Iran as the conflict enters its third week, but claimed that Tehran is not yet prepared for a deal to end the war.
“Yes, we’re talking to them,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, without specifying the details of the discussions, when asked about diplomatic efforts to resolve a conflict that has spread across the Middle East and unsettled global markets.
“But I don’t think they’re ready. But they are getting pretty close,” he added.
Earlier, Iran’s foreign minister denied that any talks with the United States were ongoing.
Trump expressed uncertainty over wanting to finalise a deal to end the war, citing the difficulty of knowing whom the US is negotiating with, “because most of their leadership has been killed.”
Ali Khameini and dozens of other Iranian officials reportedly died on the first day of the US-Israeli attacks on February 28.
Despite this, Trump maintained that “they want to make a deal badly.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi pushed back, insisting Iran is not interested in negotiations with the US. In an interview with CBS’s “Face The Nation,” Araghchi said: “We are stable and strong enough. We are only defending our people. We don’t see any reason why we should talk with Americans, because we were talking with them when they decided to attack us. There is no good experience talking with Americans.”