President Donald Trump has announced that the United States had started direct negotiations with Iran during his nuclear program after Tehran previously rejected Washington calls to the talks.
“We have direct interviews with Iran, and they started. It will go on Saturday. We have a very big meeting, and we will see what can happen,” Trump told journalists in the White House on Monday, alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“And I think everyone agrees that making an agreement would be preferable,” he added, without providing more details.
Trump also warned that Iran would be “in great danger” if diplomatic efforts to slow down its nuclear ambitions failed, adding that Tehran “cannot have nuclear weapons”.
Earlier this month, Trump told NBC News: “If they [Iran] Do not materialize an agreement, there will be bombings ”. He added that the bombing would be “people like they had never seen before”.
Trump’s announcement of direct talks with Tehran would not be to Netanyahu’s “tastes” because the Israeli leader wanted to bomb Iran for a long time, said Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera political analyst.
“Trump has been wanting an agreement for a long time,” said Bishara. However, “Netanyahu certainly believes that Iran’s defenses have been weakened by the Israeli air strikes last year on Iran. And he considers this as an excellent opportunity, with American support, for Israel to finish Iran.”
“In reality, Trump does not want to enter a war with Iran while in the midst of trade wars with the rest of the world,” added Bishara.
‘Talks devoid of meaning’
During the weekend, the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abbas Araghchi, described the prospect of direct negotiations with the United States on the Tehran nuclear program as “meaning”.
Araghchi’s remarks came after Trump said last month in a letter to the Iranian supreme chief of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that he hoped there would be negotiations between countries.
Tehran, who argues that he is not looking for a nuclear weapon, has so far rejected Washington’s openings, but said that it was open to indirect diplomacy – a repeated position by Araghchi in the Sunday declaration.
In 2018, during his first presidency, Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and the world powers, which had placed strict borders on the nuclear activities of Tehran in exchange for the relief of the sanctions.
Iran affirms that its nuclear activities are only for civil purposes. Israel, the best ally of the United States in the region, would have an undeclared nuclear arsenal.
Netanyahu calls on the Palestinians to leave Gaza
Speaking alongside Netanyahu, who received an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes in Gaza, Trump suggested that the war in Gaza could soon end.
“I would like to see the war stop, and I think the war will stop at some point that will not be too far away,” Trump told journalists in the oval office. However, it did not provide details on how a ceasefire could be reached.
Netanyahu said that Israel was working on a new agreement after the temporary ceasefire in January, which he unilaterally broke in March before released more bombing in Gaza and killing hundreds of other Palestinians.
“We are committed to taking out all the hostages, but also to eliminate the bad tyranny of Hamas in Gaza and to allow the inhabitants of Gaza to freely choose where they want,” he said.
The Israeli chief also said that he had discussed Trump what he called the “daring vision” of the American president for Gaza, referring to a controversial proposal for American control of the enclave.
The plan, largely condemned as a plan for ethnic cleaning, has aroused strong criticism internationally.
Luciano Zaccara, assistant professor of the Gulf policy at the University of Qatar, said that the comments had not revealed any change in policy towards Gaza.
“The two share the conviction that fewer people in Gaza are better – for the United States and Israel,” Zaccara told Al Jazeera.
The word “ceasefire” barely came at the press conference, said Zaccara, adding that “Trump’s main objective was business, trade deficits and works agreements, including with Israel. He does not pay much attention to Gaza as a whole, except when he discussed the Palestinians of their land. ”
Turning to Syria, Trump positioned himself as a potential mediator between Israel and Turkiye, despite the tensions between Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“Any problem you have with Turkey, I think we can solve as long as you are reasonable,” Trump told Netanyahu.
“I have a very, very good relationship with Turkey and their leader, and I think we will be able to solve it. I hope it will not be a problem. I don’t think it will be a problem,” added Trump.
Trump, who described Erdogan as “very intelligent”, congratulated the role of Turkiye in Syria, referring to the reversal of the Bashar al-Assad leader’s regime in December. “No one has done in 2000 years what Turkey has done in Syria,” he said.
Israel, which has made large air strikes against Syrian military targets, remains suspicious of the growing influence of Turkiye in Syria.
Israeli officials fear that a permanent Turkish military presence in Syria limits their operational freedom to attack Syria.
