The President of the United States, Donald Trump, stated on Friday, the 30th, that the war with Iran would end soon, “one way or another,” and renewed pressure on Tehran to reach an agreement on its nuclear program. In an interview with KCMO radio, the Republican emphasized that Washington needs guarantees that Iran will never develop a nuclear weapon.
“We need a guarantee that there will never be a nuclear weapon,” Trump declared, while advocating that Iran accept an understanding with the United States.
The American president also said that there are difficulties in identifying interlocutors in the negotiations, claiming that the top Iranian leaders have already been “eliminated,” without naming specific individuals. “We don’t even know who to negotiate with, because all of Iran’s leaders are gone,” he said.
Trump’s statement, however, contrasts with what the diplomacy behind the scenes shows. In September, envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met in New York, on the margins of the UN General Assembly, with the Iranian delegation led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in talks mediated by countries that carried messages back and forth. Qatar and Pakistan, which acted as mediators in indirect technical discussions in Doha, are identified as the main communication channels.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Vice President JD Vance sent on Wednesday a letter to Mohsen Rezaei, ally of Iran’s Supreme Leader, in an attempt to reopen negotiations, with Trump’s knowledge, according to an American official told the outlet. Trump himself denies having directed the initiative. Araghchi, for his part, signaled openness to continuing the talks.
In the interview, Trump also reiterated that the Iranian regime “needs to make a deal,” amid the ongoing conflict.
