The US president threatens Iran with bombing if Tehran fails to reach a nuclear deal with Washington.
Iranian President Masuud Pezeshkian excluded direct negotiations on US President Donald Trump’s nuclear program, but expressed his willingness to talks about indirectly, but Trump threatened bombings and secondary tariffs if Tehran had not reached an agreement with Washington.
“We have responded to the US President’s letter through Oman and rejected the option of in person meetings, but are accepting indirect negotiations,” Pezeshkian said at a cabinet meeting held in Tehran on Sunday.
He stressed that Iran, in principle, does not oppose negotiations, but Washington must first correct past “misconduct” and rebuild trust.
His remarks, reported by ISNA News Agency, come amid intensifying tensions between the two countries.
“If they don’t make a deal, there’s going to be a bombing,” Trump said in a phone interview with NBC on Sunday.
“But if they don’t make a deal, they could put secondary tariffs on them like I did four years ago.”
Earlier in March, Trump wrote to Iran’s top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warning that Tehran must either agree to new negotiations or face military conflicts.
Khamenei rejected the ultimatum, claiming that Iran would only engage in consultations through intermediaries.
In his first term as US president from 2017 to 2021, Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 contract between Iran and the world’s great powers that imposed strict restrictions on nuclear activities in Tehran’s conflict in exchange for sanctions relief.
After Trump withdrew the contract in 2018 and cleaned up US sanctions, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran had accumulated enough fissile material for multiple bombs but had not made any effort to build it.
Iran says its nuclear program is fully directed for civilian energy purposes.
Iran’s economy is hit by sanctions, and observers suggest that only a breakthrough in negotiations with Washington could lead to bailouts.
Kamal Haraj, an advisor to Iranian Ayatollah Khamenei, said Tehran “has not closed all the doors” for negotiations.
“We are ready for indirect negotiations with the United States to evaluate other parties, state their own terms and make appropriate decisions,” the advisor said according to state media.
