Trump torpedoing Iran talks with public commentary, aides say

US officials claim that President Donald Trump’s comments on Iran nuclear talks have undermined attempts to reach a diplomatic solution.

By World Israel News Staff

US officials privately complained that President Donald Trump’s public commentary on Iran and attempts to secure a new nuclear deal may have damaged sensitive negotiations that had been nearing a breakthrough, according to a CNN report.

According to the report, talks were moving toward a possible breakthrough on Friday until Trump began discussing the negotiations on social media and in phone calls with reporters.

Officials told CNN that the president’s running commentary complicated the diplomatic effort, especially after he publicly claimed Iran had agreed to major US demands.

Trump struck a very different tone in his public messages. “The DEAL that we are making with Iran will be FAR BETTER than the JCPOA,” he wrote Monday, referring to the 2015 nuclear accord he abandoned during his first term. He also insisted, “I am under no pressure whatsoever, although, it will all happen, relatively quickly!”

Trump also rejected suggestions that Israel had pushed him into the war. “Israel never talked me into the war with Iran,” he wrote in another post, while separately attacking US media coverage and declaring, “The Anti-America Fake News Media is rooting for Iran to win, but it’s not going to happen, because I’m in charge!”

But Iranian officials quickly pushed back against Trump’s claims.

Officials who spoke with CNN said that Trump had publicly suggested Iran was ready to surrender its entire enriched uranium stockpile, only for Iranian officials to deny that.

Iran’s state news agency also rejected reports that a new round of talks in Islamabad had been finalized, calling such claims “not correct” and accusing Washington of “continuous contradictions.”

The White House forcefully denied that Trump had harmed the process. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “The United States has never been closer to a good deal with Iran, unlike the horrible deal made by the Obama administration, thanks to President Trump’s negotiating ability.”

“Anyone who cannot see President Trump’s tactics to play the long game are either stupid or willfully ignorant.”