US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he is willing to deal with “whoever runs the show” to reach an agreement with Tehran, claiming that “there’s tremendous infighting” on the Iranian side.
His remarks came after Trump said earlier on Saturday that he had cancelled a planned trip to Pakistan by special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
“There’s tremendous infighting. They’re probably fighting for leadership. In many cases, I think they’re fighting not to be the leader, because we knocked out two levels of leaders, but I’ll deal with whoever we have to,” Trump claimed while talking to reporters before departing to Florida via Air Force One.
“We have all the cards. They have no military left, practically. They have no leaders left. We don’t know who the leaders are… I don’t think they know who the leaders are,” Trump said.
“I’ll deal with whoever runs the show… but there’s no reason to wait two days, have people traveling for 16, 17 hours… When they want, they can call me; we have all the cards,” he added.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that Tehran will not engage in talks under pressure, threats or a blockade, stressing that rebuilding trust requires ending hostile measures and guarantees against repetition, according to a statement by the Iranian presidency
In a call with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Pezeshkian said reaching common ground and creating a suitable environment for effective dialogue are essential for any progress.
He said past negotiations had only deepened public distrust in Iran, and talk of dialogue alongside sanctions, pressure and a blockade undermines confidence between the parties.
Pezeshkian stressed that halting hostile policies and ensuring they are not repeated are necessary conditions for resolving disputes.
He also said increased military presence further complicates the situation and weakens the atmosphere needed for dialogue.
Earlier on Saturday, Trump said: “Pakistan is terrific. I think the field marshal is fantastic. I think the Prime Minister of Pakistan is great. And you know, they’d like to see something happen, but we’re not going to be traveling 15-16 hours to have a meeting with people that nobody ever heard of.”
Trump said the Iranian side “gave us a paper that should have been better, and interestingly, immediately, when I cancelled it, within 10 minutes, we got a new paper that was much better.”
In response to a question on whether the US will continue the ceasefire, Trump said he has not “even thought about it,” adding that the Iranian side “offered a lot but not enough.”
He added that the “whole deal is not complicated: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
The first round of talks between the US and Iran was held in Islamabad two weeks ago but failed to produce an agreement to end the conflict that began on Feb. 28 and spread across the Middle East. The talks followed a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan on April 8, which was later extended by Trump. – AA