US President Donald Trump claims talks with Iran are ongoing but says Tehran is not ready for a deal to end the ongoing war, a claim Iran’s foreign minister denies

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said the United States is in discussions with Iran as the war enters its third week. He added, however, that Tehran is not ready for a deal to end the conflict.

“Yes, we’re talking to them,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. He did not detail the nature of the talks when asked about diplomacy to end a conflict that has spread across the Middle East.

“But I don’t think they’re ready. But they are getting pretty close,” Trump said. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had earlier denied that any talks with the United States were taking place.

Trump expressed uncertainty about wanting to make a deal. “Because first of all nobody even knows who you’re dealing with, because most of their leadership has been killed,” he said.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and dozens of other officials died on the first day of US-Israeli attacks on February 28. Trump insisted, however, that “they want to make a deal badly”.

Foreign Minister Araghchi pushed back strongly on Trump’s stance in an interview aired on Sunday. “We are stable and strong enough. We are only defending our people,” he told CBS’s “Face The Nation”.

“We don’t see any reason why we should talk with Americans, because we were talking with them when they decided to attack us,” Araghchi said. “There is no good experience talking with Americans.”

 The Sun Malaysia