Before the expected talks between the United States and Iran during the weekend, the State Department rejected the idea that the discussion would be a negotiation on the Tehran nuclear program.
“This is a meeting going on, right? On Saturday, there is a meeting. There is no negotiations,” the spokesperson for the State Department, Tammy Bruce said on Tuesday.
“This is a dynamic where the president explained very clearly and that the secretary has certainly clearly indicated that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” she said. “It is a touching base, yes. Again, it is not a negotiation. It is a meeting.”
President Donald Trump speaks during an event on the production of energy in the East house of the White House, on April 8, 2025, in Washington.
Alex Brandon / AP
However, Bruce and the press secretary of the White House, Karoline Leavitt, both stressed that President Donald Trump sought to conclude an agreement with Tehran.
“With regard to Iran, the president reprinted paralyzing sanctions against the Iranian regime, and he clearly indicated that Iran has the choice: you can conclude an agreement with the president, you can negotiate, or there will be a hell to pay,” said Leavitt.
Bruce confirmed that Steve Witkoff, the special envoy in the Middle East, will represent the Trump administration during the session. But beyond that, the White House and the State Department were tightened regarding the details of the planned talks, which Trump announced during an oval office meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
Steve Witkoff, special envoy of the White House, speaks during a television interview outside the White House, March 19, 2025, in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein / AP
Trump also said that the United States has already made direct diplomacy with Iran for the first time since 2018, when he left a nuclear agreement from the Obama era with the country.
“We have direct interviews with Iran, and they started. It will go on Saturday. We have a very big meeting, and we will see what can happen,” said Trump.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later posted on X that the meeting that Trump referenced would take place in Oman and that the talks would be “high -level indirect talks”.
“It is as much an opportunity as a test,” said Araghchi.
Iranian supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during his annual speech Nowruz in Tehran, Iran, March 21, 2025.
Supreme Office of Leader of Iran / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
Tuesday, the White House and the State Department supported the initial description of the president of future conversations and rejected the characterization of talks by Iran as indirect.
“It’s good for Iranians,” said Bruce about Araghchi’s comments. “I would refer to the President of the United States, President Donald John Trump.”
