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Trump has claimed that the U.S. was in discussions with Iran as the war entered its third week, but Tehran was not ready for a deal to end it.
“Yes, we’re talking to them,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday.
The U.S President did not state the nature of such talks, when asked if there was any diplomacy underway to end a conflict that has spread across the Middle East and roiled global markets.
“But I don’t think they’re ready. But they are getting pretty close,” Trump said.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier denied that any talks with the United States were taking place. He said that Tehran sees “no reason” to negotiate with the United States and will continue fighting for “as long as it takes.”
“We never asked for a ceasefire, and we have never asked even for negotiation,” he said. “We are ready to defend ourselves as long as it takes. And this is what we have done so far, and we continue to do that until President Trump comes to the point that this is an illegal war with no victory,” he said.
“We don’t see any reason why we should talk with Americans, because we were talking with them when they decided to attack us, and that was for the second time. There is no good experience talking with Americans.”
U.S. Continues to Blow Hot
As the war intensifies, the U.S. and Iran have yet to strike a deal that would draw a curtain on the ongoing escalation between the two countries and Israel.
Trump has vowed to inflict more damage on Iran and launch more strikes against it this week as the war intensifies, but Iran remains defiant.
None of the warring sides has retreated since the February 28 strikes. Rather, they’ve all vowed to intensify the attacks even as world leaders and the United Nations call for a de-escalation.
Trump, who described the strike against Iran as “preemptive” after accusing the country of building nuclear weapons, said the U.S has caused the country a lot of damage.
“We’ve already damaged them so badly,” said Trump.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, in an interview with NBC News, labelled Iran as the greatest threat to global energy supplies on Sunday.
“The greatest driver of terrorism in the world, the greatest threat to global energy supplies will be defanged. Yes, we have disruption to get there. But we’re going to be in a much, much better place in the not-too-distant future,” said Wright.
