Trump expects deal with Iran to be reached next month

US President Donald Trump/Photo: White House via Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump hopes an agreement with Iran will be reached in the next month. He warned Tehran, failure to reach a consensus would pose a great danger.

When asked by reporters at the White House about the timeframe he envisioned for reaching an agreement, Trump said, "I think in the next month or so, something like that, it should happen quickly."

"We have to make a deal, otherwise it will be very traumatic. I don't want that to happen, but we have to make a deal," Trump said, quoted by ANTARA from Anadolu, Friday, February 13.

"They should have made a deal from the beginning. They instead got Midnight Hammer, and it would be very traumatic for Iran if they didn't make a deal," he said, referring to the US attack on Iran's nuclear facilities last June.

"We had a very good meeting yesterday with Bibi Netanyahu, and he understands, but at the end of the day it's up to me. If the deal is not a very fair and very good deal with Iran, then I think it will be a very difficult time for them," Trump continued.

Trump said shortly after the meeting ended that "nothing definitive was achieved other than that I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see if an agreement can be reached or not."

Asked if Netanyahu wanted Trump to stop the talks, the US president said, "We're not discussing that. I'll talk to them for as long as I want, and we'll see if we can get a deal with them."

The United States and Iran held negotiations last Friday in Oman for the first time since the June attack, and are expected to hold more rounds of talks on an unspecified date. The meeting marked the end of a suspension of about eight months.

Amid the negotiations, the US significantly increased its military presence in the region as Trump warned Iran that they had to reach an agreement. The US has deployed the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln from the South China Sea.

Iran says the US and Israel are fabricating pretexts for military intervention and regime change, warning they will respond to any military attack, even if limited, and insisting on lifting Western economic sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program.

Uranium enrichment remains the main point of contention. The US demands that Iran stop uranium enrichment and move highly enriched uranium out of the country - something Tehran cannot accept.

Washington is also seeking to include Iran's missile program and its support for armed groups in the region in negotiations, but Tehran has repeatedly said it will not negotiate issues outside its nuclear program.