Tehran wants to make a deal \u201cvery badly,\u201d the US president has claimed<\/p>\n
The conflict between the US and Iran is close to being settled, President Donald Trump has claimed, adding that the second round of peace talks between the two sides could take place in the next few days.
\nThe US president gave interviews to several outlets on Tuesday, where he detailed Washington\u2019s stance on the negotiations with Tehran.
\nWashington\u2019s delegation, led by Vice President J.D. Vance, met with Iranian diplomats in Islamabad, Pakistan over the weekend. The discussions, however, did not result in any breakthroughs.
\nThe US reacted by announcing a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz for Iran-linked vessels. Tehran said the negotiations had failed because of Washington\u2019s \u201cunrealistic demands.\u201d
\nThe conflict, which started with a US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28, is \u201cvery close to being over,\u201d Trump told FOX Business anchor Maria Bartiromo.
\nHowever, he again threatened Tehran with a resumption of US strikes, saying that \u201cif I pulled up stakes right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild that country. And we\u2019re not finished.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
US breach of trust led to collapse of talks \u2013 Iranian diplomat<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll see what happens. I think they want to make a deal very badly,\u201d the president said, referring to the Iranians.
\nIn a phone call with the New York Post, Trump suggested that another round of talks with Tehran \u201ccould be happening over the next two days.\u201d
\nThe venue will likely again be Islamabad, he said. Pakistani Field Marshal General Asim Munir, who helped set up the initial negotiations, \u201cis fantastic, and therefore it\u2019s more likely that we go back there. Why should we go to some country that has nothing to do with it?\u201d the president noted.
\nIn a separate interview with ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl, Trump stressed that he has no intention of extending the two-week ceasefire with Iran, which is set to expire on April 22.
\nThe conflict \u201ccould end either way, but I think a deal is preferable because then they [Tehran] can rebuild,\u201d he said.
\nIranian consul general in Mumbai Saeid Reza Mosayeb Motlagh told RT on Tuesday that there is \u201ca deep mistrust\u201d in Tehran towards Washington, but, despite this fact, the Islamic Republic \u201cremains ready to negotiate\u2026 provided the discussions are realistic.\u201d
\nDuring his press conference in the Chinese capital on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed that both Moscow and Beijing support the continuation of diplomatic contacts between the US and Iran.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: US breach of trust led to collapse of talks \u2013 Iranian diplomat<\/p>\n
Lavrov expressed hope that the Americans \u201cwill be realists… and will not continue the unprovoked aggression\u201d against Tehran, which affects the Middle East, including Washington\u2019s allies in the Gulf states.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tehran wants to make a deal \u201cvery badly,\u201d the US president has claimed The conflict between the US and Iran is close to being settled, President Donald Trump has claimed,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33289,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t