Iran war: Trump claims US has held talks with Iran

US President Donald Trump said that the US has held talks with Iran, claiming the two sides have “major points of agreement.” Meanwhile, Trump says that the US has held talks with Iran

• Iran denies Trump negotiation claim
• US President Donald Trump has postponed military strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure for five days pending the success of further talks
• Trump provided no specifics about the ‘talks’ other than that they had been ‘very good and productive’ so far
• He previously threatened to ‘obliterate’ Iranian power plants if Iran did not open the Strait of Hormuz by Monday
• Iran said it would mine the entire Persian Gulf if the US attacked such sites
• The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said the global economy is facing a ‘major threat’ due to the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz

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Trump: Phone talks with Iran ahead, sees Venezuela-style outcome
US President Donald Trum says he will continue the talks he claims to have held with Iran negotiators by phone.
“Because it’s very hard to find a country,” he said. “It’s very hard for them to get out, I guess.”

Trump said the US has already held discussions with a “top person” in Iran, claiming the two sides reached “major points of agreement.”

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But the contact he described as “the most respected and the leader” was, according to Trump, “not the supreme leader” Motjaba Khamenei.

Trump declined to identify the Iranian negotiators, saying he did not “want to get them killed.”

Iranian officials have denied any negotiations are underway. Mehr news agency, citing the foreign ministry, called Trump’s statements an attempt “to reduce energy prices.”

Trump said that among the US’s conditions were that Iran abandon its nuclear ambitions and surrender its stockpile of enriched uranium.

Trump has previously said he does not consider Khamenei the true leader of Iran. Speaking to reporters as he boarded his plane in Florida, he suggested the US should play a role in shaping Iran’s future leadership — drawing a parallel to Venezuela, where a US backed successor took over after longtime leader Nicolas Maduro was ousted.

“Look at Venezuela, how well that’s working out. Maybe we find somebody like that in Iran,” Trump said.

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