US-Iran Talks Begin As Trump Warns Of More Military Action

Speaking at a campaign rally in Michigan, Trump signaled he wants a swift outcome and suggested he is not prepared for prolonged negotiations. Now Iran has said it was continuing to exchange messages with Washington through intermediaries three days into a pause in airstrikes across the region. Tehran said the Trump administration was struggling to find a way out of the five-month-long conflict. All of this as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in Washington for the first time since February. The two leaders are expected to discuss the war on Iran. And we're talking right now. You know, they wanted to talk. Their people said, please don't drop, don't shoot last night, the night before. Two nights. Don't do it. You know, we're having good talks. So we'll see what happens. I think there's a good chance that something could happen. And if it does, good. If it doesn't, we go back to doing what we were doing two days ago. America thought Iran would collapse in three days and will surrender now after months. America is now stuck in this place and they are proud of the crimes, which means they are stuck and they are struggling. The Americans are struggling in the current situation. They have caused this, they have done this, and now they are stuck. We in Iran, we don't care about the worries of America. What is important for us is the Iranian national interest. All right. Our chief U.S. correspondent, Alan Fisher, is standing by for us at the White House. So Alan, I mean, what are the goals of the talks here between the U.S. and the Iranians? I mean, is it to get back to something resembling the memorandum of understanding or something else? Well, the first intention, of course, is to stop the military action we've seen, albeit stopped for the last three nights, over 13 days, and to pave the way for the resumption of talks, which would then lead to the agreement beyond the memorandum of understanding to an actual deal. The difficulty, of course, is getting that first step. The United States wants to make sure that the Strait of Hormuz is back open. Iran sees that as something that gives them a great deal of leverage. But the fact that after 13 days of attacks, both sides are talking, there have been no further strikes, but Donald Trump still says, look, if things don't work out and this doesn't become a deal, we will resort, go back to strong military action. Very strong military action is what he's saying. So that hangs over all of these talks. So it's clear they would like to get to a deal. But it's going to take a lot of work. Remember, when the memorandum of understanding was signed, the intention was there'd be 60 days of talks that could be extended by both sides, and they would hopefully come up with a deal. That clock hasn't even started. So there's still a lot of talking and a lot of time to be spent on trying to get peace between Iran and the United States. And Alan, as I mentioned earlier, the president is going to be meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday. What is likely to be on the agenda here? I mean, what are the issues between the U.S. and Israel that need to get ironed out? Well, you probably can't quite hear, but just the other side of the fence here at the White House is where Benjamin Netanyahu is going to spend the night, in Blair House. It's a very short walk from the front gate here, but already protesters are gathering there to express their anger at Benjamin Netanyahu and what happened during the war in Gaza and also the ongoing war in Iran. At the moment, the meeting between the two men is not expected to be public, but we know Donald Trump. That can change very quickly indeed. What is interesting, of course, is that during the peace talks with Iran, Israel, which was one of the countries that joined with the United States, the only country that joined with the United States in attacking Iran, was not involved in the peace talks. There are many in Israel who believe that the United States should not come close to making a deal, in fact, that they should resume the war. And there are certainly plenty of people in Washington, D.C., who would agree with that. Now, Donald Trump has expressed his frustration with Benjamin Netanyahu, has said several times that he feels he's not seeing the big picture. And sometimes you're not sure whether both men are on the same page or whether they're diametrically opposed to one another. So it'll be interesting to see if we get any readout from either side after that meeting. And, of course, there's also the added issue of the United States selling aircraft to Turkey. Benjamin Netanyahu doesn't want that to happen. Donald Trump was asked about it in the last few hours. He said, we'll sell to whoever we want. So it could be a very interesting meeting at the White House on Tuesday. Interesting to say the least. All right. Our chief U.S. correspondent, Alan Fisher, for us from the White House. Alan, thank you. So that was the view from Washington. Al Jazeera's Tauheed Asadi now takes a look at all of this from the Iranian capital, Tehran. Iran is not going to allow the United States to determine the timing of peace or war. This is perhaps the most important sentence from the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' weekly press conference. And also we know that it comes within a context that Iran is trying to send a mixed message, a two-sided one, based upon which the country is saying that there is full preparation for confrontational scenarios on the horizon. And on that, we've got it from the army of the country saying that in case of any attack by the United States, there are going to be more crushing and stronger retaliations. Meanwhile, the country is saying that the doors for diplomacy are neither open nor closed, but rather ajar. And on that regard, they also said that they haven't requested any talks with the United States, but the mediated negotiation and mediated communication is still underway, seeing the role of Qataris, Pakistanis, and other regional players in that regard. We know that the country is trying to practice a sort of cautiously calibrated pragmatism impacted by a cloud of mistrust regarding any reproachment towards the United States. And also in that regard, we know that it's oscillating between the rhetoric of war and the rhetoric of peace. And last but not the least, we know that the situation is marked by three important characteristics. First, the ambiguity, because this is not just for the first time that they are talking about hopes about diplomacy, specifically seeing the statements coming from the US President Donald Trump. B, it's the breakable nature of the situation. We know that for the past nights, we didn't see that much of exchange of fire in this But also, we know that there is a potentiality for a new round of escalation. And C factor, and that is the complicated nature of issues. We know that speaking of diplomacy, there are a lot of points of contention when it comes to the nuclear dossier of the country, when it comes to the sanctions, when it comes to war reparations. And when it comes to this, straight up or most, perhaps one of the most important controversial issues between the two sides. And on that, Iran is putting emphasis that it's going to maintain a level of control and authority over this, straight up or most. And perhaps this is one of perhaps the most controversial issues, as the country is also saying that any passage through the trajectory of this geo-strategically significant choke point should be coordinated with the Iranian side, A, and should be within the trajectory defined by the Iranians, which is quite close to the Iranian borders, another sign of control and authority that Iran is trying to implement pertaining to the strait at this time. I can say at the end of the day, what remains the name of the game is uncertainty. Tawheed Asadi, Al Jazeera, Tehran. Saudi Arabia has condemned a drone attack launched at the country from Iran-backed groups in Iraq. The attack, which was intercepted, targeted the capital, Riyadh, as well as oil facilities in the eastern province. The foreign ministry says it reaffirms its rights to respond to the aggression. It also called on Iraq to take all necessary measures to prevent further attacks.