Iran denies 'direct talks' with US over its nuclear programme

Donald Trump has said the US is having direct talks with Iran over its nuclear programme – stating Iran will be in “great danger” if the negotiations fail.

The president has insisted Tehran cannot get nuclear weapons.

But Iran almost immediately contradicted the president insisting the talks due to take place in Oman on Saturday would be conducted through an intermediary.

Iran had pushed back against the US president’s demand that it enter negotiations over its nuclear programme or be bombed, but speaking at the White House on Monday, Mr Trump said: “We’re having direct talks with Iran, and they’ve started.

“It’ll go on Saturday,” he continued. “We have a very big meeting, and we’ll see what can happen. And I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei visits nuclear centrifuges in Tehran. Pic: Reuters

When pressed for more details on the talks, the US president said they are taking place “at almost the highest level”, without specifying who would take part or where they would be held.

“Hopefully those talks will be successful, it would be in Iran’s best interests if they are successful,” he said. “We hope that’s going to happen.

Speaking in the Oval Office on Monday, Mr Trump said Iran “cannot have a nuclear weapon, and if the talks aren’t successful, I actually think it will be a very bad day for Iran”.

However, Mr Trump’s bullish comments were not matched by Tehran. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X that indirect high-level talks would be held in Oman, adding: “It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America’s court.”

On Tuesday, Iran’s state media said the talks would be led by Mr Araghchi and US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, with Oman’s foreign minister, Badr al Busaidi, acting as intermediary.

Mr Trump’s previous warnings of possible military action against Iran heightened already tense nerves across the Middle East.

He has said he would prefer a deal over military confrontation and in March wrote to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to suggest talks. Iranian officials at the time said Tehran would not be bullied into negotiations.

Mr Netanyahu had to sit there, listen and accept it

It now seems clear why the Israelis were summoned to the White House at short notice.

The US and Iran will sit down together to directly negotiate a nuclear deal in a matter of days.

Mr Trump didn’t say who would be taking part in the talks but said it would be “almost at the highest level”.

He wouldn’t reveal the location, and he didn’t put a timeline on it, but Washington and Tehran in close dialogue is a major development in Middle East geopolitics.

Benjamin Netanyahu had to sit there, listen and accept it.

By doing it publicly, in the Oval Office, Mr Trump has asserted his power and effectively forced the Israeli prime minister to accept the outcome.

Iran is yet to respond publicly, and it’s not clear what role Britain and France might play, as nuclear states and permanent members of the UN Security Council. Maybe none at all.

Mr Trump said Iran would be “in great danger” if the talks failed, but stopped short of explicitly saying he would order military action.

Mr Trump wants a deal, Israel will not be at the table and Mr Netanyahu’s ability to influence the talks, if he doesn’t like the way they are going, will be limited.

Some in Israeli media are describing the meeting as a humiliation for the prime minister and I suspect Mr Netanyahu will have left the White House concerned and possibly angry by what he heard.

But Mr Netanyahu has long shown an ability to force himself into the conversation – he won’t sit by and watch the talks progress without finding a way to have his say.

Direct talks would not occur without the explicit approval of Iran’s supreme leader, who said in February that negotiations with the US were “not smart, wise, or honourable”.

During his first White House term, Mr Trump withdrew the US from a deal between Iran and world powers designed to curb Iran’s nuclear work in exchange for sanctions relief.

He also reimposed US sanctions.