Trump says he prefers talks with Iran rather than Israeli bombing
US President Donald Trump
US President Donald Trump has renewed his call for talks with Iran to reach a deal preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, emphasizing that he prefers negotiations over bombing the country.
Trump told The New York Post on Saturday: “I would like a deal done with Iran on non-nuclear. I would prefer that to bombing the hell out of it. . . . They don’t want to die. Nobody wants to die.”
On February 4, Trump signed a directive to intensify sanctions enforcement on Iran, at the same time insisting that he would prefer negotiations rather than confrontation and offered to meet his Iranian counterpart.
Trump told the Post, “If we made the deal, Israel wouldn’t bomb them.” Earlier he had said that any reports the United States and Israel would work together on a devastating military attack on Iran were overblown.
"I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon. Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens,” ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED," Trump said.
In his remarks to the Post, Trump refused to reveal his negotiating tactic with Tehran. “I could tell what I have to tell them, and I hope they decide that they’re not going to do what they’re currently thinking of doing. And I think they’ll really be happy.”
Following Trump’s move to tighten sanctions and his expressed willingness to negotiate, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Friday ruled out any talks with the United States.
Trump withdrew from the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal with Iran during his first term, imposing tough economic sanctions that have triggered a prolonged financial crisis in the country.
Iran has also lost influence in the Middle East as a result of Israeli attacks on its proxy forces and the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) must convene an emergency meeting to condemn Donald Trump's plan to seek US ownership of the Gaza Strip and move out its population, Iran's top diplomat told his Muslim counterparts on Saturday.
During a joint news conference in Washington on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said that he envisioned the US assuming control over the Gaza Strip, relocating its residents elsewhere, and transforming the war-ravaged coastal area into what he called the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
In separate phone calls with his Egyptian, Turkish and Pakistani counterparts, Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi called for an emergency meeting of the OIC to "adopt a unified and firm stance in countering this plot against the fate of the Palestinian people."
"The forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza is a colonialist conspiracy to erase Palestine and a serious threat to regional stability and security," Araghchi told Egypt's Badr Abdelatty.
Araghchi said the OIC can "play a crucial role in countering the ethnic cleansing plan in occupied Palestine."
Trump's proposal has already sparked outrage in the Middle East, including in Egypt and Jordan, two close allies of Washington which Trump has suggested can take in the Palestinians.
A report by Israel's Channel 12 says Trump is also considering Morocco, Puntland, and Somaliland as other possible options for the relocation of Palestinians.
The Islamic Republic will not negotiate with the United States unless the Trump administration puts an end to his so-called maximum pressure policy against Iran, the country's foreign minister said Saturday.
"The removal of sanctions requires negotiation, but not under a policy of maximum pressure," Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Saturday during a seminar in Tehran.
"We will never negotiate from a position of weakness," he added.
On Friday, a State Department spokesperson told Iran International that the Trump administration's maximum pressure policy on Iran will remain in place unless the Islamic Republic reaches a deal with Washington.
"President Trump has been clear that the United States is committed to preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and expressed his willingness to discuss a deal with Iran," the spokesperson told Iran International.
"If the Iranian regime does not want a deal, the President is clear, Iran will remain under the restored maximum pressure campaign," the spokesperson added.
However, Araghchi says "there is truly no basis for fair negotiations" with the Trump administration.
"We negotiated before—for over two years, we negotiated in good faith, we reached an agreement in good faith, and we fulfilled our commitments in good faith. But what happened? They were the ones who failed to uphold their commitments and ultimately withdrew," Araghchi told reporters.
"So, what new development has occurred that makes them expect us to trust them again or enter negotiations once more? The only new development is that they are imposing even more pressure."
“Negotiating with such a government should not be done; it is neither wise, intelligent nor honorable,” Iran's 85-year-old veteran theocrat who has the ultimate say over Iranian policy told a group of air force personnel in Tehran.
Khamenei accused Washington of perfidy over the last international nuclear deal in 2015, from which Trump withdrew the United States in 2018.
What new development has occurred that makes the Americans expect us to trust them again? From an expert perspective, there is no basis for a fair negotiation at all.
Trump on Tuesday reinstated the so-called maximum pressure policy on Iran from his first term but said he preferred a deal. Relative moderate President Masoud Pezeshkian has publicly expressed openness to US talks.
Diplomacy is the best way to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons, a Federal Foreign Office spokesperson told Iran International Saturday, as the US ramps up its "maximum pressure" campaign.
In response to questions from Iran International about whether Germany, as a strategic partner of the United States, would cooperate with the White House and align with Washington’s pressure strategy, the spokesperson reaffirmed Berlin’s commitment to diplomatic engagement.
“In November 2024 and January 2025, together with our French and British partners, we conducted preliminary talks with Iran on the Iranian nuclear program, regional issues, and other issues of concern,” the spokesperson said.
Addressing recent US policy moves, the spokesperson added, “We have taken note of the National Security Presidential Memorandum that President Trump has issued. Over the last years, Germany has reduced its bilateral relations with Iran to a minimum. At the same time, we have been keeping channels of communication open. We are in contact with European partners, with the US, and with other partners regarding relations with Iran.”
While Germany and its European allies continue to prioritize diplomacy, tensions between Tehran and Washington are escalating. Speaking to a group of air force personnel in Tehran on Friday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei firmly rejected negotiations with the US. “Negotiating with such a government should not be done; it is neither wise, intelligent, nor honorable,” Khamenei said, undermining both President Donald Trump’s call for a new nuclear deal and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s stated openness to talks with Washington.
Nevertheless, the Iranian government signaled its willingness to continue dialogue with Europe. “The government's strategy is to ensure a unified voice from Iran. While everyone is aware of the existing challenges, today more than ever, we need greater unity and solidarity to overcome these difficulties,” Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani wrote on X Saturday. She added, “Negotiations with European countries will continue, and it is well understood that Iran will not engage in talks if they are conducted dishonorably.”
Nevertheless, the US remains steadfast in its approach. “President Trump has been clear that the United States is committed to preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and expressed his willingness to discuss a deal with Iran,” a State Department spokesperson told Iran International. “If the Iranian regime does not want a deal, the President is clear, Iran will remain under the restored maximum pressure campaign.”
Germany confirms repatriation of dual national citizen's body
The German Federal Foreign Office also confirmed that its embassy in Tehran had worked “continuously over the past weeks to ensure the repatriation of Mr. Sharmahd's body to Germany.” A spokesperson told Iran International that the successful return was “the result of insistent diplomatic and consular efforts on several levels.”
Jamshid Sharmahd, a German-Iranian dissident, died in an Iranian prison while awaiting execution on charges of endangering national security. Iranian authorities claimed Sharmahd, who was abducted by Iranian agents in the UAE in 2020, died of a stroke before his scheduled execution. However, his family and human rights organizations have disputed these claims, citing the lack of transparent legal proceedings and credible evidence supporting his conviction.
Sharmahd’s daughter, Gazelle Sharmahd, confirmed to Iran International that German authorities informed her of the body’s return, though an autopsy is still required to confirm his identity. “Once that happens, we can say with certainty that it is my father,” she said, adding that the family plans to pursue legal action against Iranian authorities in Germany.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s emphatic rejection of talks with the United States on Friday has sparked mixed reactions and interpretations within Iran—primarily on social media.
Implicitly referring to President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the JCPOA nuclear agreement in 2018, Khamenei said that “Negotiating with such a government should not be done; it is neither wise, intelligent nor honorable."
Trump reinstated his "maximum pressure" sanctions this week but also extended an olive branch, proposing a meeting with his Iranian counterpart and expressing hope that if an agreement ensures Iran abandons the pursuit of nuclear weapons, further sanctions would not be unnecessary.
Most Iranian media outlets have reported Khamenei’s statements without commentary or analysis. As seen in previous instances reported by Iranian journalists, higher authorities—such as the Supreme National Security Council—may have directed the media to refrain from critical coverage of the speech.
Hardliner and ultra-hardliner media outlets and politicians, however, have insisted that Khamenei’s speech unequivocally banned any response to President Donald Trump’s proposal to hold direct negotiations with his Iranian counterpart.
"The Leader of the Revolution's stance on negotiations with the United States was stated in the clearest possible terms, leaving no room for alternative interpretations," the Revolutionary Guards-linked Javan newspaper wrote in an editorial Saturday.
The editorial also demanded that President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government urgently align with Khamenei’s directive “to safeguard national unity.” In fact, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghci announced on Saturday that he will follow the Supreme Leader's guidance in foreign policy.
In a social media post, an ultra-hardliner lawmaker, Mohammad-Mannan Raisi, issued a stern warning to those advocating for talks with the United States. “After His Excellency’s speech today, if they continue pushing their unrectified views and pressuring the Leader, we will no longer respond with mere speeches and commentaries,” Raisi wrote on social media.
On the other hand, supporters of direct US-Iran negotiations offered alternative interpretations of Khamenei’s remarks, suggesting they might not represent a complete rejection of talks. Some argued that Khamenei was merely emphasizing the need for clear outcomes, such as lifting sanctions, rather than engaging in futile negotiations.
In support of this view, proponents noted that Khamenei’s speech did not refer to the 2020 killing of Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad, an event often cited by hardliners to oppose dialogue with Trump.
Mohammad-Ali Ahangaran, a moderate conservative political analyst, interpreted Khamenei’s position as part of a broader negotiation strategy. “As a scholar in international law and political science, I see this as an element in ongoing negotiations,” Ahangaran wrote on social media.
Similarly, former reformist lawmaker Akbar Alami argued that Khamenei’s speech was a tactical move aimed at securing guarantees from Trump that any potential agreement would not be abandoned, as happened in 2018. Alami recalled that Khamenei had previously opposed negotiations during three speeches in 2012 and 2013, even as secret talks with the US were reportedly taking place in Oman.
During this period, Jake Sullivan, the former National Security Advisor to the US Vice President Joe Biden and William Burns, the Deputy Secretary of State under Barack Obama, reportedly held talks with Iranian representatives in Muscat.
Abdolreza Davari, a former aide to ex-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, suggested that Khamenei’s remarks were not a rejection of negotiations per se but a call for talks to focus on resolving Iran’s problems, particularly sanctions relief.
“Negotiation for its own sake, as seen during the tenure of [Saeed] Jalili [during Ahmadinejad’s presidency] has no outcome other than exacerbating the country’s problems,” he said in an x post, adding that Pezeshkian’s government must “define the requirements for wise, logical, or honorable talks” to prevent a similar outcome.
Paris-based political analyst Hamzeh Ghalebi also argued that Khamenei’s rhetoric implied that negotiations had not been ruled out. According to Ghalebi, Trump demands that Iran forgo nuclear and strategic weapons, while Khamenei seeks guarantees that such disarmament would not compromise Iran’s security and that sanctions would be genuinely lifted. “The first stage of negotiations has already taken place,” Ghalebi concluded.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's rejection of talks with the United States is final, Iran’s parliament speaker said, emphasizing that when Khamenei calls such negotiations “not honorable,” the decision is settled.
"Yesterday, the Supreme Leader made a clear and explicit statement on negotiations, which defines the consensus," he said. "My expectation and demand are that the president and his government colleagues align their actions with these directives and move forward accordingly."
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf also acknowledged internal divisions on the issue, warning against framing the debate as a simple "yes or no" to negotiations within the country's political landscape.
He also touched upon Khamenei's comments from the previous day, in which the Supreme Leader dismissed the idea of talks with Washington, calling them neither “wise, intelligent nor honorable.”
“Negotiations with the United States have no impact on solving the country's problems. We must understand this correctly and not be misled into thinking that sitting at the negotiation table with that government will resolve certain issues. No, negotiations with the United States will not solve any problems,” Khamenei said on Friday.
Khamenei’s remarks directly challenged those, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, who had expressed openness to potential discussions with the US on a new nuclear deal.
Trump called for Iran's full disarmament in written message
Ghalibaf said the Trump administration has sent a written message to Iran calling for the full disarmament of the Islamic Republic.
“The issue is not nuclear anymore. They speak of nuclear, missile, conventional and unconventional weapons; these are meant to disarm the Islamic Republic.”
Since 2018, when Trump imposed fresh oil export and banking sanctions, Iran's economy has worsened dramatically. The decline has been further exacerbated by decades of mismanagement, corruption, and a focus on funding foreign conflicts rather than addressing domestic needs.
The national currency has plummeted by 95%, losing 22 times its value, while inflation has remained stubbornly high at around 40% for the past five years. Official estimates now suggest that over a third of the population lives below the poverty line.
