JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump said it would soon be clear whether an agreement with Iran might be reached. Trump warned Washington may be forced to increase pressure if negotiations fail.
"We may have to go further, or maybe not," he told the inaugural meeting of the Peace Council in Washington, adding that the situation would likely become clearer "in the next 10 days."
Trump said his envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, had built a solid working relationship with Iranian representatives and talks were going well.
"Iran is a volatile region right now, and they are meeting, and they have good relations with Iranian representatives. Good talks are underway," he said.
Trump was firm on one condition: Iran must not acquire nuclear weapons.
"They must not have nuclear weapons. It's very simple. You can't have peace in the Middle East if they have nuclear weapons," he said.
US Vice President JD Vance described talks in Geneva on Tuesday as productive "in some ways," but said Iran "was not ready" to discuss Trump's key demands. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the atmosphere "more constructive."
Trump acknowledged reaching a "meaningful deal" with Tehran was historically proving difficult.
"It has been proven, for years, that it is not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran. We have to make a meaningful deal. Otherwise, bad things will happen," he said.
He urged Tehran to seize the moment. "Now is the time for Iran to join us on the path that will complete what we are doing," Trump said.
"If they join us, it will be good. If they don't join us, it will also be good, but it will be a very different path," he said.
The president said Iran "cannot continue to threaten the stability of the entire region" and must reach an agreement.
Trump also praised the US attack last June on an Iranian nuclear facility as triggering a moment of relative calm in the region, saying the B-2 bomber attack "completely destroyed" Iran's nuclear potential.
He argued that the elimination of the threat was a determining factor in realizing what he called peace in the Middle East, calling it "the most important of all."
The statement comes as Washington has deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to the region, with the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier also en route, along with additional fighter jets.
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