Trump says he hopes diplomacy with Iran will bring deal
US President Donald Trump has voiced optimism that diplomatic efforts on Iran’s nuclear activities would bear fruit, reiterating that he wants to “make a deal with Iran.”
Trump, on his first visit to West Asia since returning to the White House, said on Wednesday that he spoke about Iran with the leader of Qatar, which maintains relations with both longtime adversaries.
“It’s been really an interesting situation. I have a feeling it’s going to work out,” Trump said of Iran after talks with the emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
“I want to make a deal with Iran. I want to do something, if it’s possible,” Trump told a summit of Persian Gulf Arab leaders in Riyadh earlier Wednesday.
However, he vowed rigorous enforcement of sanctions against Iran.
“I’m strongly urging all nations to join us in fully and totally enforcing the sanctions” imposed on Iran by the United States, he said.
The Trump administration in recent weeks has imposed sanctions on a series of entities and individuals it claims assist Iran’s oil industry and nuclear program.
Iran has held four rounds of indirect talks with the Trump administration on a replacement for the 2015 deal, which have been generally described as positive by the two sides.
In 2018, Trump walked out of a landmark agreement between Iran and several other countries that gave it sanctions relief in return for confidence-building restrictions on its nuclear activities.
He slapped sweeping sanctions on Iran, including secondary measures against any country that buys Iranian oil.
Iran now wants guarantees that the US will remove all the sanctions and won’t again unilaterally derail the new deal.
Trump, in a speech Tuesday in Riyadh, also said he favored diplomacy but leveled various accusations against Iran, including that it destabilizes the region.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that he had listened to the remarks and “unfortunately, a very deceptive view has been put forward.”
Trump announces Qatar’s Boeing order
During his visit to Qatar, Trump said Qatar Airways had placed a “record” order for 160 planes from Boeing, as he signed a raft of deals in Doha alongside Qatar’s emir.
“It’s over $200 billion, but 160 in terms of the jets. That’s fantastic. So that’s a record,” Trump said, adding: “It’s the largest order of jets in the history of Boeing. That’s pretty good.”
Relations between Washington and Doha have been in the spotlight over Qatar’s offer to Trump of a $400 million luxury aircraft to serve as a new Air Force One and then pass into his personal use.
Trump’s Qatar visit is the second destination of his Persian Gulf tour, after a first stop in Riyadh, where he made a surprise announcement lifting sanctions on Syria and met the country’s president.
