Washington – President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States will maintain direct conversations with Iran about his nuclear program, while warning the Iranians who would be in “great danger” if the conversations fail to persuade them to leave their nuclear weapons program.
The president, in comments to journalists after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the conversations will begin on Saturday. He insisted that Tehran cannot obtain nuclear weapons.
“We are dealing with them directly and maybe an agreement will be made,” Trump said. He added that “making an agreement would be preferable to do the obvious.”
When asked if he committed to military action against Iran if his negotiators cannot accept Tehran, Trump replied that “Iran will be in great danger and I hate saying it.”
“If the conversations are not successful, I think it will be a very bad day for Iran,” Trump said.
Iran’s mission in the United Nations did not have immediate comments on Monday.
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Trump recently sent a letter to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatolá Ali Khamenei, 85, requested direct negotiations with the United States for its nuclear program that advances quickly. But Iranian president Masoud Peeshkian said at the end of last month that Iran had rejected Trump’s plea while letting the possibility of indirect negotiations with Washington open.
But Trump has constantly asked Iran, who is the main sponsor of Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi militants in Yemen, to leave his nuclear program or face a calculation.
“If they do not reach an agreement, there will be bombings,” Trump told NBC News at the end of March. “It will be bombarded to those who had never seen before.”
Tehran’s main envoy to the UN, Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani, has asked members of the Security Council in a series of letters to condemn Trump’s threats to bomb Iran.
Trump during his first mandate in the White House withdrew the United States from the historical nuclear agreement with Iran negotiated by the administration of Democratic President Barack Obama.
Netanyahu says he supports Trump’s diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement with Iran, and adds that Israel and the United States share the same objective of ensuring that Iran will not develop a nuclear weapon.
The Israeli leader, known for his views to Iran and the previous calls of military pressure, said he would welcome a diplomatic agreement in the Libya Agreement with the International Community in 2003.
“I think it would be good something,” he said. “But whatever happens, we have to make sure I will have no nuclear weapons.”
Trump said the conversations would occur “at almost the highest level”, but he refused to say where the negotiations or who was sending for sensitive diplomacy would be carried out.
The Sultanato of the Middle East of Oman was an important duct for the previous negotiations of the United States-I will and has been the intermediary for the recent exchange of letters on reopening negotiations between Trump and Khamenei.
Trump announced plans for surprise commitment when Netanyahu made a hurried visit to the White House, his second in just over two months, to discuss the rates Trump has unleashed in countries around the world, Iran’s nuclear program and the Hamas War of Israel.
When withdrawing the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, Trump declared that he was making the world safer, but also deepened his isolation on the world stage and revived doubts about US credibility.
The agreement, which also included Great Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia, had raised most of the US and international economic sanctions against Iran.
“I think it will be different and perhaps much stronger,” Trump said on how a new agreement could be different from that negotiated by Obama officials.
Trump and Netanyahu said they also discussed tensions with Iran, the ties of Israel-Turkey and the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant against the Israeli leader last year. Trump signed an executive order in February that imposed sanctions on the ICC on his research from Israel.
Before his meeting with Netanyahu, Trump made a call with French president Emmanuel Macron, Egyptian President Abdel Fattaah El-Sisi and the king of Jordan Abdullah II. The three leaders have been key interlocutors in efforts to modify tensions in the Middle East and end the Israel-Ahamas War.
The prime minister shortly after arriving in Washington on Sunday night met with the senior officials of the Trump administration, the Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and the United States Trade Representative Jameson Greer, to discuss tariffs. And Netanyahu met Monday with Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy in the Middle East, before sitting with the president.
In tariffs, Netanyahu said he assured Trump that his government would move to erase the commercial deficit. The American-Israel trade was $ 37 billion last year, according to the Office of the United States Commercial Representative. The commercial deficit was $ 7.4 billion.
“We will eliminate the commercial deficit with the United States,” said Netanyahu, “we intend to do it very fast.”
Trump said that, in addition to the commercial deficit, the United States provides Israel with almost $ 4 billion in assistance per year, a large part of the same military aid. When asked if he could be willing to reduce Israel’s rate, Trump replied: “Maybe not, maybe not. Do not forget that we help Israel a lot.”
Eytan Gilboa, an expert in relations between the United States and Israel, said he expected Trump to use tariffs as a lever to force Netanyahu concessions.
In the case of Israel, these concessions may not be economic. Trump can press Netanyahu to move to finish the war in Gaza, at least through an interim truce with hams that would pause the most hostage fighting and free. Gilboa said Trump hopes to return from his first trip abroad, which is expected next month to Saudi Arabia, with some movement in an agreement to normalize relations with Israel, which would probably require important Israeli concessions in Gaza.
If you can advance to reinforce ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, that would act as a regional diplomatic counterweight to press Iran, against which Trump has threatened with new sanctions and suggested military actions on her nuclear program.
To a preventive extent last week, Israel announced that it was eliminating all the tariffs of the assets of the United States, mainly in imported foods and agricultural products, according to a statement from the Netanyahu office.
But the tactic failed, and with a rate of 17%, Israel was only one of the dozens of countries that were slapped with tariffs on the so -called Trump’s release day last week.
Although Israel is a small market for American products, the United States is a key trade partner of Israel. Much of that trade is for high -tech services, which are not directly affected by tariffs, but key Israeli industries could be affected.
The Israel manufacturers association estimates that tariffs will cost Israel about $ 3 billion in exports each year and will lead to the loss of 26,000 jobs in industries that include biotechnology, chemical, plastics and electronic products. The World Bank says that Israel’s gross domestic product, an economic production measure, exceeds $ 500 billion a year.
“The damage will not stop in exports,” said Ron Tomer, president of the group. “It will scare investors, encourage companies to leave Israel and undermine our image as a global innovation center.”
