US President Donald Trump warns Iran of consequences for no deal as Geneva talks approach, with military threats and nuclear fears looming.
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE: US President Donald Trump warned Iran on Monday of the “consequences of not making a deal”. The warning comes ahead of scheduled talks between the United States and the Islamic republic in Geneva.
“I’ll be involved in those talks, indirectly,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Washington. He added, “I don’t think they want the consequences of not making a deal.”
The latest talks are scheduled for Tuesday and will be mediated by Oman. They follow repeated threats from Trump of military action against Tehran.
These threats were first over Iran’s deadly crackdown on anti-government protests, and more recently over the country’s nuclear programme. The United States and some European countries fear the programme is aimed at making a bomb, which Tehran denies.
Washington has previously pushed for other topics to be discussed. These include Iran’s ballistic missiles and its support for armed groups in the Middle East.
Iran’s foreign ministry said earlier Monday that “the US position on the Iranian nuclear issue has moved towards a more realistic one.” A previous attempt at negotiations collapsed when Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran.
That action began a 12-day war which Washington joined to bomb Iranian nuclear sites.