Trump had reportedly been working with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to try and secure talks between US and Iranian officials in Istanbul this week
Donald Trump’s bid to quietly arrange a meeting with Iran was scuppered after nobody could get the Ayatollah on the phone, it has been reported.
According to US news site Axios, Trump had been working with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to try and secure talks between US and Iranian officials in Istanbul this week.
But Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, is in hiding and couldn’t be reached to approve the talks.
It comes amid reports B-2 stealth bombers had left a US air base – apparently heading towards Guam or Diego Garcia.
The B-2 Spirit is the only aircraft capable of delivering the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, also known as the bunker buster bomb.
Trump told reporters on Friday that he is giving Iran a “period of time” to come to the table – and that he’d make a decision on whether to join strikes on Tehran’s nuclear capabilities in the next two weeks.
“I’m giving ’em a period of time. We’re gonna see what that period of time is. And I would say two weeks would be the maximum,” he said at an airfield in New Jersey, en route to his Bedminster golf club.
He’s set to come back from the resort this evening, to return to the White House Situation Room for more briefings on the conflict.
The phone call with Erdogan reportedly took place last Monday, when Trump was meeting G7 leaders in Canada.
Axios reports Trump agreed to send Vice President JD Vance and White House envoy Steve Witkoff – and possibly travel to Turkey himself to meet with Iran’s leadership.
Talks between European ministers and Iran’s top diplomat failed to stop a fresh round of strikes today.
Friday’s talks, which aimed at de-escalating the fighting between the two adversaries, lasted for four hours in Geneva, but failed to produce a breakthrough.
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European officials expressed hope for future negotiations. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was open to further dialogue but stressed Tehran wasn’t interested in negotiating with the US while Israel continued attacking.
A senior adviser for Khamenei, vowed in a social media post Saturday to make the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency “pay” once the war with Israel is over.
Ali Larijani’s threat comes as IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has become a major target for many Iranian officials who say his conflicting statements about the status of Iran’s nuclear program incited the Israeli surprise attack last week.
Grossi told the United Nations’ Security Council Friday that while Iran has the material to build a nuclear bomb, it appears they have no plans to do so.