A second round of direct negotiations with Iran could take place in Pakistan over the next two days, President Trump said on Tuesday in an interview with The New York Post.
He did not say who would represent the United States in a potential next round of talks, though he ruled out being personally involved.
In the interview, Mr. Trump also said he did not like the reports that the United States had proposed a 20-year “suspension” of all nuclear activity by Iran, rather than a permanent ban on nuclear enrichment.
“I’ve been saying they can’t have nuclear weapons,” Mr. Trump said, “so I don’t like the 20 years.”
Vice President JD Vance led more than 16 straight hours of closed-door meetings over the weekend with Iran, mediated by Pakistan. But he left early Sunday morning without a deal.
He blamed Iran for the failed talks, saying the United States sought a commitment that Iran would not seek a nuclear weapon, and it refused.
Since then, people familiar with the negotiations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy, said the U.S. position was not a permanent ban on nuclear enrichment by Iran. Instead, the United States proposed a 20-year “suspension” of all nuclear activity, which would allow the Iranians to claim they had not permanently given up their right, under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, to produce their own nuclear fuel.
In response, Iran renewed a proposal that it suspend nuclear activity for up to five years, according to two senior Iranian officials and one U.S. official. The Iranians had made a very similar proposal in February during a failed set of negotiations in Geneva that convinced President Trump it was time to go to war. Days later, he ordered the attack on Iran.
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