ANTALYA: No date has been set for the next round of Iran-US peace talks brokered by Pakistan following the failure of the first one, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said on Saturday.
“Until we agree on the framework, we cannot set the date,” Saeed Khatibzadeh told journalists on the sidelines of an annual Turkish diplomatic forum in the southern province of Antalya.
“Now we are focusing on finalizing the framework of understanding between two sides. We don’t want to enter into any negotiation or meeting which is due to failure which can be pretext for another round of escalation,” he said.
Khatibzadeh told journalists on the sidelines of the forum that US President Donald Trump “tweets a lot,” after Washington threatened fresh strikes if no deal was reached with Tehran.
“The American side tweets a lot, talks a lot. Sometimes confusing, sometimes, you know, contradictory,” he said.
Trump said on Friday that he may end the ceasefire with Iran unless a long-term deal to end the war is agreed by Wednesday.
“Maybe I won’t extend it, but the blockade (on Iranian ports) is going to remain,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on his way back to Washington from Phoenix, Arizona. “So you have a blockade, and unfortunately we have to start dropping bombs again.”
But he also told reporters accompanying him aboard Air Force One to Washington that, “I think it’s going to happen,” referring to a deal.
“We had some pretty good news 20 minutes ago, but it seems to be going very well in the Middle East with Iran,” Trump told reporters.
“You’ll hear about. I just think it’s something that should happen. It’s something that only makes sense to happen. And I think it will. We’ll see what happens, but I think it will,” Trump said when asked what the good news was.
Trump also told AFP there were “no sticking points” left for a peace deal with Iran, adding that an agreement was “very close”.
“We’re very close to having a deal,” Trump said in a brief telephone interview. Asked what unresolved issues were left, Trump said: “No sticking points.”
– with Reuters, AP and AFP
