(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Monday said the U.S. is engaged in what he called “direct talks” with Iran over its nuclear program.
Making the surprise announcement sitting alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office, Trump said the discussions would be ramped up to high-level talks beginning this weekend.
“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,” he said.
“And I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious. And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with, or, frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with if they can avoid it, he said.
“So, we’re going to see if we can avoid it. But it’s getting to be very dangerous territory. And hopefully those talks will be successful. And I think it would be in Iran’s best interests if they are successful,” he said.
When asked, Trump would not reveal the location nor did he identify the U.S. negotiators.
“If the talks aren’t successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger,” Trump said. “And I hate to say it, great danger, because they can’t have a nuclear weapon. You know, it’s not a complicated formula. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. That’s all there is.”
Last month, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkiansaid rejected an offer for direct talks in a letter sent by Trump, according to state media.
Iran’s diplomatic mission in New York had no immediate comment Monday.
If the talks happen, they would mark the first significant, publicly known direct talks between the U.S. and Iran since President Trump exited the 2015 Obama-era nuclear deal (the JCPOA) with Tehran in 2018.
In recent weeks, Trump has threatened potential military action against Iran to keep it from developing nuclear weapons.
“We have a very big meeting on Saturday, and we’re dealing with them directly,” he said Monday. “You know, a lot of people say, ‘Oh, maybe you’re going through surrogates or you’re not dealing directly. You’re dealing through other countries.’ No, we’re dealing with them directly. And, maybe a deal is going to be made.”
“That’ll be great,” he continued. “That be it’d be really great for Iran, I can tell you that. But hopefully we’re not going to have to get into that. We we’re meeting, very importantly on Saturday at almost the highest level. And we’ll see how it works out.”
Iran’s nuclear “breakout time” has dwindled dramatically, with most experts agreeing that Tehran could now produce enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb in just one or two weeks. It would likely take several months to a year beyond that for Iran to develop a deliverable warhead.
ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart and Molly Nagle contributed to this report.
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