State Department confirms 'constructive' nuclear talks with Iran; Trump says deal 'sort of' agreed to
The State Department said nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran have been constructive, and President Donald Trump has been clear about wanting to see diplomacy.
U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott was asked during a press briefing Thursday about comments made by Trump, and he said the U.S. and Iran were close to an Iran nuclear deal.
Trump, speaking in Doha, Qatar, said he thinks the U.S. and Iran "are getting close" to making a deal without any violence. In Trump fashion, he said there are two steps — "a very nice step and a violent step" — which he added consists of violence people have never seen before.
The president also said Thursday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), that the U.S. and Iran have "sort of" agreed to terms on a nuclear deal.
"Iran has sort of agreed to the terms. They're not going to make — I call it, in a friendly way — nuclear dust," Trump told reporters, suggesting a growing alignment with the terms he has been seeking. "We're not going to be making any nuclear dust in Iran."
While Pigott would not comment on private diplomatic conversations or negotiations, he reiterated Trump's stance on the matter.
"The president has been clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon," Pigott told reporters. "The talks have been described as constructive by the participants in them, and so, again, Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. And the president has been clear. He wants diplomacy. He wants to see a diplomatic solution here."
Pigott made his remarks as Trump tours the Middle East, making stops in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Trump, while speaking at the Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh Wednesday, reiterated his desire to make a deal with Iran and called for building upon the progress of the Abraham Accords by adding more countries to the historic agreement.
Trump made the comments while addressing leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council as part of his four-day visit to the region.
"I want to make a deal with Iran. I want to do something if possible. But for that to happen, it must stop sponsoring terror, halt its bloody proxy wars and permanently and verifiably cease its pursuit of nuclear weapons. They cannot have a nuclear weapon," Trump said.
Though Trump said he wants to make a deal with Iran and see Tehran prosper, he also recently accused the Iranian regime of not only hurting its own nation, but the region at large.
"Iran's leaders have focused on stealing their people's wealth to fund terror and bloodshed abroad. Most tragic of all, they have dragged down an entire region with them," Trump said.
The president pointed to the "countless lives lost" in Iran's effort to prop up the former Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, which collapsed in December, and accused its support of Hezbollah for the downfall of Beirut, which he said was "once called the Paris of the Middle East."
It is unclear how Trump's negative comments toward Tehran could affect ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran.
Still, The Associated Press reported Thursday that a top political, military and nuclear advisor to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told NBC News Wednesday that Tehran stands ready to get rid of its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium that can be weaponized, agree to enrich uranium only to the lower levels needed for civilian use and allow international inspectors to supervise the process.
In return, Ali Shamkhani, the advisor, said Iran wants an immediate lifting of all economic sanctions.
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