Steve Holland and Andrea Shalal
President Donald Trump has expressed disappointment with US negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program and warned that “sometimes you have to use force,” amid a massive military presence in the region that could presage strikes on the Islamic Republic.
“I am not happy with the negotiation,” Trump said. “I say no enrichment.”
Trump has increased diplomatic and military pressure on Iran in the weeks since an Iranian crackdown on protesters, attempting to force the country’s rulers to give up their nuclear program and other activities Washington sees as destabilising.
After the latest round of talks on Thursday in Geneva ended with no deal, Trump’s patience appeared to be wearing thin, although he said he had not made a final decision on the use of force.
“They cannot have nuclear weapons. And we’re not thrilled with the way they’re negotiating. We’ll see how it all works out,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House on a trip to Texas.
Iran denies it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons and wants any accord to include the lifting of US sanctions against it.
Trump spoke a day after negotiations between US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Iranian officials in Geneva ended without a deal, though Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, who was a mediator, said the talks made significant progress.
A major US military force, including two aircraft carrier groups, is in the Middle East waiting on Trump’s order. American refuelling tankers and F-22 fighter aircraft have also flown into the region.
While Trump’s timing for a final decision is unclear, the State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio is to hold talks in Israel with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 1 and 2.
The US joined Israel’s bombing campaign against Iran in June, striking major nuclear facilities.
Asked about the potential for use of force, Trump said the United States has the greatest military in the world.
“I’d love not to use it, but sometimes you have to,” he said.
More talks due
Trump said more discussions on Iran would take place later in the day. He did not specify with whom, but Oman, which has been acting as a mediator between the two countries, sent its foreign minister to Washington on Friday for discussions with US Vice President JD Vance, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Top US defence officials were at the White House on Thursday for talks.
“We want no nuclear weapons by Iran, and they’re not saying those golden words,” Trump said. That appeared to refer to Washington’s insistence that Tehran commit to not developing nuclear weapons, something the US president made explicit in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday.
There is internal recognition that taking on Iran would be more difficult than the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, and there was also internal pessimism about whether negotiations would bear fruit, the source said.
“Nobody is super optimistic about the negotiations,” the source said.
Meanwhile, countries including the US, UK, Australia and China have evacuated embassy staff in the Middle East and issued travel advisories amid concerns about a regional conflict.
The US on Friday told non-emergency staff at its embassy in Jerusalem that they’re allowed to leave Israel, with the country being vulnerable to Iranian retaliation if it participates in a US attack.
Washington issued a similar evacuation order for its diplomatic mission in Beirut on Monday. The UK, China, India and others have also advised citizens or diplomats to leave some parts of the Middle East.
Poland, Finland, Sweden and Singapore have also advised citizens to leave the region, while the UK also said it was temporarily withdrawing diplomatic staff from Iran.
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