bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

quizIds

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

paywallTypes

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Reuters

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States and Iran were beginning direct talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, a surprise announcement after Iranian officials had appeared to rebuff US calls for such negotiations.
But in a sign of the difficult path ahead to any deal between the two geopolitical foes, Trump issued a stark warning that if the talks are unsuccessful, “Iran is going to be in great danger”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed the meeting on Tuesday, saying the talks will take place in Oman on Saturday.
“It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America’s court,” Araghchi said in a social media post.
Iran’s state media said the talks would be led by Araghchi and Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, with the intermediation of Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi.
Iran had pushed back against Trump’s demands in recent weeks that it directly negotiate over its nuclear programme or be bombed, but it had recently left the door open to indirect discussions.
“We’re having direct talks with Iran, and they’ve started. It’ll go on Saturday. We have a very big meeting, and we’ll see what can happen,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during talks with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“And I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable,” Trump said.
Trump said Saturday’s talks with Iran would be at a very high level but declined to elaborate. He also held out the possibility that a deal could be reached.
The US and Iran held indirect talks during former president Joe Biden’s term but they made little if any progress. The last known direct negotiations between the two governments were under then president Barack Obama, who spearheaded the 2015 international nuclear deal that Trump later abandoned.
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
Donald Trump, US President
Warnings by Trump of military action against Iran had jangled already tense nerves across the Middle East after open warfare in Gaza and Lebanon, military strikes on Yemen, a change of leadership in Syria and Israeli-Iranian exchanges of fire.
Trump has said he would prefer a deal over Iran’s nuclear programme to a military confrontation and he said on March 7 he had written to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to suggest talks. Iranian officials said at the time that Tehran would not be bullied into negotiations.
“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,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Monday.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Such talks would not take place without the explicit approval of Khamenei, who in February said negotiations with the US were “not smart, wise, or honourable”.
Hours before Trump’s announcement, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Iran was awaiting a US response to Tehran’s proposal for indirect negotiations. He said the Islamic Republic believed it was making a generous, responsible and honourable offer.
A senior Iranian official said over the weekend that Tehran wanted to continue indirect negotiations through Oman, a long-time channel for messages between the rival states.
The Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was possibly a window of around two months to reach a deal, citing worries that Iran’s long-time foe Israel might launch its own attack if talks took longer.


During his 2017-2021 term, Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 deal between Iran and world powers designed to curb Iran’s sensitive nuclear work in exchange for sanctions relief. Trump also reimposed sweeping US sanctions.
Since then, Iran has far surpassed that deal’s limits on uranium enrichment.
Western powers accuse Iran of having a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability by enriching uranium to a high level of fissile purity, above what they say is justifiable for a civilian atomic energy programme.
Tehran says its nuclear programme is wholly for civilian energy purposes.
The White House National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for details.
The shift comes at a precarious time for Tehran’s regional “axis of resistance” which it has established at great cost over decades to oppose Israel and US influence. The axis has been severely weakened since Palestinian group Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, tipped the Middle East into conflict.
Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been hammered by Israel since the Gaza war began, while the Houthi movement in Yemen has been targeted by US air strikes since last month. Israel severely damaged Iran’s air defences last year.
The fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, another key Iranian ally, has further weakened the Islamic republic’s influence.


US B-2 bombers moving to Guam amid Israel-Iran tensions

Israel says Iran’s supposed nuclear programme delayed by 2 years amid fresh attacks

Trump repeats ‘maximum’ 2 weeks for US to decide whether to join Israel against Iran

Europeans’ meeting with top Iranian diplomat yields hope of more talks but no breakthrough

US-Iran tensions

Trump says US and Iran beginning direct talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme

US President Donald Trump, right, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Trump administration ends some USAID contracts providing life-saving aid across Middle East

People receive food aid provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) at the Bab al-Rahma camp near the town of Kafr Lusin, north of Idlib, Syria, on March 12. Photo: EPA-EFE

Iran calls Trump’s direct talks on nuclear deal ‘meaningless’

A man repaints one of the famous anti-US murals in Tehran, Iran, on March 29. Photo: EPA-EFE

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Photo: AFP

Iran rejects direct negotiations with US as Trump threatens ‘bombing’

An anti-US mural in Tehran, Iran. Photo: EPA-EFE

Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian. Photo: Iranian Presidency via dpa

B-2 stealth bombers, right side, parked at Camp Thunder Cove in Diego Garcia on March 26. Photo: Planet Labs PBC via AP

Effigies representing US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tehran. Photo: AFP

Pentagon watchdog to probe use of Signal for Yemen attack plans

Democrat congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi points to text messages by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth during an annual worldwide threats assessment hearing in Washington last week. Photo: AFP

A fighter plane takes off for an operation against the Houthis. Photo: US Central Command via Reuters

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. Photo: TNS

Israeli strikes on Gaza kill dozens as Netanyahu heads to US for war talks with Trump

A mourner at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis reacts on Monday near the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip. Photo: Reuters

Smoke rises from an Israeli strike as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara board a plane in Budapest, Hungary on Sunday. Photo: Hungarian Defence Ministry/AFP

A displaced Palestinian child looks out from his shelter in Gaza City on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

News

World

United States & Canada

Middle East

During meeting with Israeli PM Netanyahu at the White House, Trump warned Tehran of ‘great danger’ if talks are not successful


During meeting with Israeli PM Netanyahu at the White House, Trump warned Tehran of ‘great danger’ if talks are not successful.
