Geneva, Switzerland. President Donald Trump expressed disappointment with U.S. negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program and said “sometimes you have to use force,” as the United States maintains a large military presence in the region.
Trump said he has not made a final decision on the use of force after talks in Geneva ended without a deal.
Trump comments after Geneva talks
Trump has increased diplomatic and military pressure on Iran in recent weeks following an Iranian crackdown on protesters, aiming to push Iran’s leaders to forswear nuclear weapons and other activities Washington views as destabilizing.
After the latest round of talks on Thursday in Geneva ended without a deal, Trump said on Friday before an event in Corpus Christi, Texas, that Iran was not making a key commitment. “They don’t want to say the key words, ‘We’re not going to have a nuclear weapon,’” he said. “So I’m not happy with the negotiation.”
Iran denies seeking to develop nuclear weapons and says any accord should include the lifting of U.S. sanctions.
Mediation and outlook for diplomacy
Negotiations between U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Iranian officials in Geneva ended without news of a deal, though Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, a mediator, said the talks made significant progress.
Albusaidi told CBS earlier on Friday, before Trump’s latest remarks, that a “peace deal is within our reach … if we just allow diplomacy the space it needs to get there.”
He said Iran has agreed in principle it would never have nuclear material that could be used to create a weapon, adding that “if we can capture that and build on it, I think a deal is within our reach.”
U.S. military posture and upcoming Israel meetings
A large U.S. military force, including two aircraft carrier groups, is in the region awaiting Trump’s order.
The State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio is to hold talks in Israel with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday and Monday.
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