Washington DC, April 17
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said it remains unclear whether the ceasefire with Iran will be extended, even as he expressed optimism about ongoing negotiations and indicated that the next round of talks could take place over the weekend.
Responding to a question on extending the ceasefire, President Trump said, "We're doing very well. I can tell you, maybe it'll happen before that. I'm not sure it needs to be extended. Just so you know, Iran wants to make a deal, and we're dealing very nicely with them. We've got to have no nuclear weapons. If we do, that's a big factor, and they're willing to do things today that they weren't willing to do two months ago."
He added that the US is currently focused on concluding a deal with Iran, suggesting that progress in talks could make an extension unnecessary.
"We're focused so much right now on Iran, seeing if we can get that completed, and I think we're going to be in very good shape. And I think if you look, the stock market is good, the oil prices are coming down, and it's looking very good that we're going to make a deal with Iran. And it's going to be a good deal, it's going to be a deal with no nuclear weapon," Trump said.
On the timeline for further negotiations, the US President indicated that the next in-person round may happen soon.
"Probably maybe over the weekend," he said.
Addressing concerns over uranium enrichment limits, Trump said there is a firm understanding that Iran will not possess nuclear weapons.
"What we have is a statement, a very powerful statement, that they will not have beyond 20 years. That they will not have nuclear weapons, that's beyond. There's no 20-year limit," he said.
He reiterated that failure to reach an agreement could lead to renewed hostilities.
"I would say the fighting, if there's no deal, fighting resumes," Trump said.
He emphasised that preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons remains the key priority.
"The big thing we have to do is we have to make sure that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon. Because if they do, you want to talk about problems, you'd have problems. So, very important is that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon, and they've agreed to that," Trump said.
"Iran's agreed to that, and they've agreed to it very powerfully. They've agreed to give us back the nuclear dust that's way underground because of the attack we made with the B-2 bombers. So we have a lot of agreement with Iran, and I think something's going to happen very positively," he added. Earlier, President Trump said he would consider travelling to Pakistan if a peace agreement between the United States and Iran is finalised there, indicating Islamabad's possible role in ongoing negotiations.
The remarks come as diplomatic engagement intensifies over the Iran conflict.
- ANI
Reader Comments
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.