Trump: "U.S. and Iran Likely to Hold Talks This Weekend"

U.S. President Donald Trump

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U.S. President Donald Trump stated on the 17th (local time) that he expects a second round of talks with Iran to begin this weekend for an armistice negotiation. He claimed that if the talks commence, a deal could be reached within one or two days.

In a phone interview with the online media outlet Axios on the same day, President Trump said, "The talks (for an armistice negotiation) will probably be held this weekend," adding, "We think we can get a deal within a day or two."

In another phone interview with Bloomberg, President Trump said, "Most of the key issues (in the negotiations) have been resolved. It will proceed very quickly." When asked whether Iran's nuclear program would be permanently halted, he responded, "There is no time limit (on the halt). It's indefinite."

In a separate phone interview with Reuters, he said that the United States, together with Iran, would "leisurely" enter Iran's underground facilities and use "heavy equipment" to "dig out" the "nuclear remnants" (enriched uranium) and "recover them in the United States very early."

Regarding the retrieval of enriched uranium, President Trump said that the United States would not provide any economic compensation or payment. The previous day, Axios reported that there were discussions underway on a plan to unfreeze 20 billion dollars of Iranian assets in the United States in exchange for Iran relinquishing its stockpile of enriched uranium.

In response to this, President Trump denied the report, saying, "Completely wrong. No money will be exchanged."

He further said that it has not yet been decided who would lead the second round of negotiations. When asked by Bloomberg whether he himself might go to Pakistan, he replied, "It's possible."

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