US and Iran to begin critical nuclear talks as Trump threatens war
CNN
Iran and the United States will begin crucial talks on Saturday to reach a new nuclear deal in an effort to ease tensions and avert another conflict in the Middle East that could further engulf the wider region.
Iran and the United States will begin crucial talks on Saturday to reach a new nuclear deal in an effort to ease tensions and avert another conflict in the Middle East that could further engulf the wider region. The meeting, to be held in the Gulf Arab nation of Oman, could be the first direct talks between Iranian and American officials in a decade, though Iran insists they will be indirect - with mediators acting as go-betweens for the two nations. President Donald Trump has given Iran a two-month deadline to accept a deal that would lead to Iran shrinking its nuclear footprint or eliminating its program altogether. “These will be direct talks with the Iranians, and I want to make that very clear,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing Friday. She added Trump’s ultimate goal is to “ensure that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon.” The arrival in Oman this weekend of Trump administration Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff for talks with Iranian officials will add another file to the array of complex and intractable issues in his expanding portfolio and follow a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine in St Petersburg on Friday. The stakes on Saturday are high: Trump said military strikes are possible against Iran if a new nuclear deal isn’t reached, though he said Israel – which has been advocating for an attack on Iran – would take the lead. “If it requires military, we’re going to have military,” Trump said on Wednesday. “Israel will obviously be very much involved in that. They’ll be the leader of that.”
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