Under a self-imposed deadline to pursue diplomacy with Iran and with no direct negotiations with the U.S. on the horizon, President Donald Trump acknowledged on Friday that the situation in the Middle East appeared to be deadlocked — but said he would still give the Iranians a chance to “come to their senses.”
“I’m giving them a period of time, and I would say two weeks would be the maximum,” the president said.
Earlier in the day, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrapped up talks with several of his European counterparts in Geneva, but reiterated Iran’s demand that Israel stop attacks on the country before it would be willing to seriously pursue any negotiations.
Asked whether he would ask the Israelis to hold back, Trump said it was “very hard to make that request right now.”
“If someone is winning, it’s a little bit harder to do than if someone is losing,” he said. “But we are ready, willing and able and have been speaking to Iran and we’ll see what happens.”
The president also dismissed the talks held in Europe, playing down the already low expectations for a breakthrough.
“They didn’t help,” Trump said of the discussions. “Iran doesn’t want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this one.”
But despite the president’s claim, Iran has so far rebuffed a standing offer from the U.S to resume nuclear negotiations.
Some administration officials have argued that the president’s posture is setting the stage for Iran to ultimately cave—betting that the regime will bend under regular Israeli bombardment and ultimately back off from key demands on enriching uranium under a new nuclear deal with the U.S.
They also see Iran’s leadership as scrambled by the assault from Israel and predict it might take several days before it is logistically possible to convene a meaningful round of negotiations with the U.S.
Meanwhile, as sharp differences between Israeli and American assessments on Iran’s nuclear abilities have come to the forefront, Trump has also showcased distrust for his own intelligence community, including his own director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard.
On Friday, Trump was asked about Gabbard’s testimony to Congress in March that the U.S. assessed that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon.
“She’s wrong,” Trump said flatly.
Shortly after Trump spoke, Gabbard criticized the news media, posting on X, “America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly. President Trump has been clear that can’t happen, and I agree.”
The president’s decision to hold back on hitting Iran has frustrated Israeli officials, who have been privately pushing their case for U.S. military involvement for months, according to officials familiar with the matter.
At the United Nations Security Council on Friday, Israel’s permanent representative to the body Danny Danon insisted his country could go it alone.
“This isn’t just Israel’s fight, it is the world’s fight. And if no one else will fight it, we will,” he declared.
But as Trump ponders military action and its possible consequences, analysts say giving Iran extra time may come with its own risks.
“Iran could use the talks simply to buy time in the conflict or, at worst, to shift around its nuclear material and sprint to a bomb, although it would presumably be difficult to fully develop a nuclear weapons capability amid an ongoing war,” said Heather Williams, the director of the Project on Nuclear Issues and a senior fellow in the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Already, the security of tens of thousands of Americans in the Middle East is already in peril.
According to the State Department, it has now provided “information and support” to over 25,000 people seeking guidance regarding the security situation in Israel, the West Bank and Iran.
The department is planning government evacuations for U.S. citizens in Israel but has warned it does not anticipate offering direct assistance to Americans in Iran.
The post Prospects for diplomacy dim after Trump rejects Europe’s efforts on Iran: ANALYSIS appeared first on ABC News.
