Trump awaiting Iranian response on direct talks

This photo shows the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) while conducting a replenishment-at-sea with the fast combat support ship USNS Arctic (T-AOE 9), while MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopters assigned to the "Nightdippers" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 5, transfer stores between the ships. (AFP/US Navy)

WASHINGTON: The United States is "sitting by the phone" but has heard no message yet from Iran that it is willing to accept President Donald Trump's overtures for direct talks, a senior Trump administration official said on Friday.
"We think they should de-escalate and come to negotiations," the official told a small group of reporters.