Trump says US is having direct talks as Iran rejects them

President Donald Trump said the U.S. is holding direct talks with Iran and the next round will take place this Saturday “at almost the highest level,” provoking confusion after the leaders in Tehran rejected the idea and proposed negotiations with Oman as mediator.

“We have a very big meeting on Saturday, and we’re dealing with them directly,” Trump said in an Oval Office meeting Monday alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “You know, a lot of people say, ‘Oh, maybe you’re going through surrogates, you’re not dealing directly, you’re dealing through other countries.’ No — we’re dealing with them directly.”

It wasn’t clear what discussions Trump was referring to. The U.S. hadn’t previously announced any negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. Earlier in the day, officials in Iran said they had sent a “generous and wise” proposal for indirect talks with the U.S. about its nuclear program that could involve Oman as a mediator.

Trump had said earlier he wanted direct discussions with the Islamic Republic over a new nuclear deal to replace the one that he abandoned during his first term, and in March gave Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei two months to reach an agreement or face possible military action.

In the Oval Office meting, Trump warned the two sides were entering “dangerous territory.” He said “Iran is going to be in great danger” if the talks don’t succeed. “It’s not a complicated formula: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”

Iran has repeatedly denied it wants a nuclear weapon. In March, U.S. intelligence agencies said they continue to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon, and the country’s leaders haven’t authorized a nuclear weapons program suspended in 2003.

Earlier Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the country was waiting for a U.S. response to what he called a “responsible, generous, and wise offer.” He added that the Gulf-Arab Sultanate of Oman, which has facilitated dialogue between Tehran and Washington in the past, is a “main candidate” to mediate talks with the U.S. if they take place.

“The offer for direct negotiations isn’t acceptable to us for reasons repeatedly stated before, but we’re ready for indirect negotiations through Oman,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said earlier, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency. “The ball is in the U.S. court.”

Netanyahu had said earlier this year that the U.S. and Israel stand “shoulder to shoulder” in countering the threat of Iran and said that with U.S. support, “we can and will finish the job.”

In the Oval Office meeting, he said the U.S. and Israel were united in their determination that Iran never get a nuclear weapon.

“If it can be done diplomatically in a full way, the way it was done in Libya, I think that would be a good thing,” Netanyahu said.

(With assistance from Arsalan Shahla.)

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