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Agence France-Presse

US President Donald Trump threatened to use military action against Iran if it were to try and acquire a nuclear weapon, as negotiators are set to meet Saturday to discuss the stand-off over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Trump told reporters he would “absolutely” consider using military action “if necessary” during an event in the Oval Office on Wednesday. Trump added that Israel would “very much be involved, the leader of that”.
The president added that he had an internal deadline for the negotiations to yield results.
“We don’t have much time because we’re not going to let them have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “And we’re going to let them thrive, I want Iran to be great. The only thing that they can’t have is a nuclear weapon.”
The high-level talks set for Oman this weekend will be the first time since September 2022 that the US and Iran are taking part in formal nuclear talks.
Trump did not specify who would conduct or take part in the negotiations, but said that he saw the Saturday meeting as “a start” of the process and that he had a deadline in mind for the discussion.

The two countries have not directly engaged since 2015 which led to a nuclear deal that Trump eventually pulled out of during his first term.
Iranian officials have repeatedly denied they are pursuing nuclear weapons, even as outside observers say they would be able to produce enough weapons-grade fissile material within weeks.
Since taking office in January, Trump has revived his “maximum pressure” strategy against Iran, targeting its oil exports, the banking system and other key industries.
Iranian officials say their main goal is sanctions relief and that the discussions will take place in an indirect format, contradicting Trump who claimed on Monday that the US was “dealing with them directly”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this week that he supported Trump’s diplomatic efforts to reach a settlement with Iran. He added that Israel and the US shared the same goal of ensuring that Iran did not develop a nuclear weapon.
Netanyahu, however, led efforts to persuade Trump to pull out of a US-brokered deal with Iran in 2018.
The Israeli leader, known for his hawkish views on Iran and past calls for military pressure, said he would welcome a diplomatic agreement along the lines of Libya’s deal with the international community in 2003.
But that deal saw Libya’s late dictator Moammar Gadhafi give up all of his clandestine nuclear programme. Iran has insisted its programme, acknowledged to the International Atomic Energy Agency, should continue.
“I think that would be a good thing,” Netanyahu said. “But whatever happens, we have to make sure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian again pledged on Wednesday that his nation was “not after a nuclear bomb” and even dangled the prospect of direct American investment in the Islamic Republic if the countries could reach a deal.
The comments by the reformist leader represent a departure from Iran’s stance after its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, in which Tehran sought to buy American planes but in effect barred US companies from coming into the country.
“His excellency has no opposition to investment by American investors in Iran,” Pezeshkian said in a speech in Tehran, referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “American investors: come and invest.”
Bloomberg and Associated Press


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Donald Trump

Trump says he’d use US military to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons

A woman walks past a mural  depicting the US flag with the stars replaced by skulls and the white and red stripes with silhouettes of soldiers firing assault rifles, painted on the outer walls of the former US embassy in Tehran on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

US President Donald Trump (right) meets Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office in February. Photo: AFP

Iranian President Maspud Pezeshkian speaks after visiting an exhibition showcasing Iran’s nuclear achievements in Tehran on Wednesday. Photo: Iranian Presidency via dpa

Trump says US and Iran beginning direct talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme

US President Donald Trump, right, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Iran calls Trump’s direct talks on nuclear deal ‘meaningless’

A man repaints one of the famous anti-US murals in Tehran, Iran, on March 29. Photo: EPA-EFE

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Photo: AFP

US sends second aircraft carrier to Middle East as Iran tensions rise

A F/A-18 Super Hornet prepares for launch from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier on March 16. Photo: Photo: DVIDS via AFP

The USS Carl Vinson. Photo: EPA-EFE

The aftermath of US air strikes in Sanaa, Yemen. Photo: AP

 B-2 stealth bombers at Camp Thunder Cove in Diego Garcia on March 29. Photo: Planet Labs PBC via AP

Iran warns it will acquire a nuclear weapon if attacked

Iranian missiles displayed at the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps(IRGC) Aerospace Force Museum in Tehran, Iran. File photo: West Asia press Agency via Reuters

Effigies representing US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tehran. Photo: AFP

Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Photo: EPA-EFE

An anti-US mural in Tehran, Iran. Photo: EPA-EFE

Iran rejects direct negotiations with US as Trump threatens ‘bombing’

Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian. Photo: Iranian Presidency via dpa

B-2 stealth bombers, right side, parked at Camp Thunder Cove in Diego Garcia on March 26. Photo: Planet Labs PBC via AP

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Middle East

The US president says Israel would be ‘the leader’ of such a strike if necessary


The US president says Israel would be ‘the leader’ of such a strike if necessary.
