Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and US President Donald Trump. (Office of the Iranian leader via AP; Shutterstock)
While US President Donald Trump expresses hope for a breakthrough in negotiations with Iran, Iranian officials remain skeptical about resolving the “complex” issues quickly.
By World Israel News Staff
US President Donald Trump expressed optimism about the ongoing talks with Iran, aimed at securing a deal that would see Tehran suspend its nuclear development program.
“We’ve had some very, very good talks with Iran,” Trump told reporters on Sunday. “And I don’t know if I’ll be telling you anything good or bad over the next two days, but I have a feeling I might be telling you something good.”
“We’ve had some real progress, serious progress” during the weekend negotiations, marking the fifth round of discussions, Trump added.
“Let’s see what happens, but I think we could have some good news on the Iran front,” he said.
Trump’s comments came on the heels of a statement from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who was far less optimistic about the progress of the talks.
“The negotiations are too complicated to be resolved in two or three meetings,” Araghchi said on Friday.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who has served as an intermediary for Iran during the negotiation, wrote that the latest round of talks had ended “with some but not conclusive progress.”
Albusaidi said he hoped “the remaining issues” would be resolved in the near future.
A major sticking point in the negotiations has been uranium enrichment, which Iran insists is their “right” to continue doing.
The US has insisted that Iran suspend uranium enrichment as part of the deal.
“They say, ‘We won’t allow Iran to enrich uranium.’ That’s way out of line,” Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said last week.
“No one in Iran is waiting for their permission. The Islamic Republic has its own policies and direction — and it will stick to them.”
Khamenei added that previous negotiations between Iran and the US “didn’t go anywhere — and we don’t expect much from the current ones either. Who knows what will happen.”
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