President Donald Trump has announced that the US has begun direct negotiations with Iran on the nuclear program after Tehran rejected Washington’s previous call for talks.
“We discussed in person with Iran and they started. It’s going on Saturday. We’ll have a really big meeting and we’ll see what happens,” Trump told White House reporters on Monday.
“And I think everyone agrees that it’s desirable to do a transaction,” he added without providing further details.
Trump also warned that Iran is in a “great danger” if diplomatic efforts to curb nuclear ambitions fail, adding that Tehran “cannot have nuclear weapons.”
Earlier this month, Trump told NBC News: [Iran] He added that the bombing would be “something they’ve never seen before.”
Since Israeli leaders have long wanted to bomb Iran, Trump’s announcement of a face-to-face meeting with Tehran would not be in Netanyahu’s “like” , said Marwan Bishara, senior political analyst at Al Jazeera.
“Trump has wanted a deal for a long time,” Vishara said. However, “Netanyahu certainly believes Iran’s defense was weakened by Israeli air forces in Iran last year, and he sees this as a great opportunity with the US support of Israel to end Iran.”
“The truth is, Trump doesn’t want to take part in the war with Iran while he’s in the middle of a trade war with other parts of the world,” Vishara added.
“Meaningless”
Over the weekend, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragci described the prospects for direct negotiations with the US over Tehran’s nuclear program as “meaningless.”
Araguchi’s remarks said he hoped there would be negotiations between the nations after Trump said in a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last month.
Tehran, who claims it does not seek nuclear weapons, has rejected the Washington overture until now, but says it is open to indirect diplomacy.
In 2018, during his first presidency, Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers, which had placed a strict curb on Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
Iran says its nuclear activities are for private purposes only. Israel, the top US ally in the region, is widely believed to have undeclared nuclear weapons.
Netanyahu asks Palestinians to leave Gaza
Speaking next to Netanyahu, who was issued an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on suspicion of war crimes in Gaza, Trump suggested that the war in Gaza could soon end.
“I want to see the war halt. I think war will stop at some point that isn’t in the far future,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. However, he did not provide details on how or when the ceasefire would be reached.
Netanyahu claimed that Israel was working on a new agreement following the temporary ceasefire in January. He unleashed more bombings on Gaza after being unilaterally broken in March, killing hundreds more Palestinians.
“We promise to drive out all hostages, but we will eliminate the evil tyranny of Hamas in Gaza, allowing the people of Gaza to freely choose to go wherever they please,” he said.
Israeli leaders also said he discussed Trump and what he called the US president’s “bold vision” of Gaza.
The program has been widely criticized as a blueprint for ethnic cleansing and has elicited sharp international criticism.
Luciano Zakkara, an assistant professor of Gulf politics at Qatar University, said the comments did not reveal changes in policy towards Gaza.
“Both share the belief that fewer people in Gaza are better. For the US and Israel,” Zakkara told Al Jazeera.
The word “ceasefire” barely came up at media conferences, Zakkara said, “Trump’s main focus was on business, trade deficits and business transactions, including Israel.
Turning to Syria, Trump has held position as a potential mediator between Israel and Torkie despite tensions between Netanyahu and Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan.
“I think we can solve the problems you have in Türkiye as long as you’re reasonable,” Trump told Netanyahu.
“I have a very good relationship with Turkey and their leaders. I think we can solve that. So I hope it doesn’t become an issue. I don’t think it will become an issue,” Trump added.
Describing Erdogan as “very smart,” Trump praised Torkie’s role in Syria, referring to Prime Minister Bashar al-Assad’s overthrow of power in December. “We have never done anything Turkey has done in Syria within two,000 years,” he said.
Israel, which has implemented a widespread air force against Syrian military targets, remains wary of the growing influence of Torkiye in Syria.
Israeli officials fear that the permanent Turkish military presence in Syria could limit the freedom of operational attacks on Syria.
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