Current negotiations with the United States are focused solely on ending the war, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported on Monday, citing Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei.
According to Baghaei, reports of discussions surrounding Iran’s nuclear program are false, as talks surrounding the program are “not being held at this stage.”
“If this stage is concluded, the nuclear issue will be one of the next items for negotiations,” Tasnim quoted him as saying. “The rest of the discussions that are being raised now are media speculation.”
Earlier on Monday, Qatari Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, and Saudi Arabian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, spoke on the phone this morning about facilitating mediation efforts between the US and Iran.
They discussed co-ordinating efforts for de-escalation to increase security and stability in the region amid the ongoing waves of strikes being shared between Israel and Iran.
Netanyahu 'won't have any choice' but to accept Iran deal, Trump tells FT
Regarding the negotiations, US President Donald Trump told the Financial Times on Sunday night that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "won’t have any choice" but to accept a deal with Iran.
“I call the shots. I call all the shots," said Trump. "He doesn’t call the shots.”
He added that Sunday's Iranian missile attack on Israel will not "have any impact on the deal," according to the FT.
“We’ll see how it ends up," he said. "But they were attacks that did not kick at all."
"It’s one of those things that’s been going for 3,000 years, or 47 years, depending on how you count,” Trump added.
Later on Sunday, Trump told Axios that the US is "very close to a final deal with Iran."
"I don't want it to blow up because of what is happening now," said Trump.
Earlier on Sunday, Trump urged Iran to get back to the negotiating table. "What I would suggest to Iran: You've shot your missiles, that's enough. Get back to the table and make a deal," Trump told Fox News.
He also told Fox that he was unaware of the strikes on Lebanon, contrary to earlier reports, and that he was angry about them.
Yonah Jeremy Bob, Amichai Stein, and Corinne Baum contributed to this report.