Ahead of the expected talks between the United States and Iran during the weekend, the Department of Foreign Affairs encouraged the idea that the discussion would be a negotiation of Tehran’s nuclear programs.
“This is a meeting that happened, right? On Saturday, there was a meeting. There was no negotiation,” spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs Tammy Bruce told reporters on Tuesday.
“This is a dynamic in which the president has made it very clear and of course the secretary has explained that Iran will never have nuclear weapons,” he said. “This touches the base, yes. Once again, this is not a negotiation. This is a meeting.”
President Donald Trump spoke during the event about energy production in the eastern room of the White House, April 8, 2025, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP
However, Press Secretary Bruce and White House Karoline Leavitt both stressed that President Donald Trump tried to cut the agreement with Tehran.
“When it comes to Iran, the President has imposed sanctions to paralyze the Iranian regime, and he makes it very clear to Iran that they have the choice to make: You can reach an agreement with the president, you can negotiate, or there will be hell to be paid,” Leavitt said.
Bruce confirmed that Steve Witkoff, a special envoy to the Middle East, would represent Trump’s administration during the session. But beyond that, both the White House and the Department of Foreign Affairs have been silenced with details about the planned talks, which Trump announced during an Oval office meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
Steve Witkoff, a special White House, spoke during television interviews outside the White House, March 19, 2025, in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Trump also emphasized that the US had carried out direct diplomacy with Iran for the first time since 2018, when he was out of the Obama era nuclear agreement with the country.
“We held a direct conversation with Iran, and they had started. This will happen on Saturday. We hold a very large meeting, and we will see what can happen,” Trump said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi then posted in X that the meeting referred to Trump would take place in Oman and that the talks would be “indirect high -level talks.”
“This is the same opportunity as a test,” Araghchi said.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the annual speech Nowruz in Tehran, Iran, March 21, 2025.
Iranian/Eff/Shutterstock’s Supreme Leader Office
On Tuesday, the White House and the Department of Foreign Affairs stand near the initial description of the President about the coming conversation and reject the characterization of Iran’s talks as indirect.
“That’s good for Iranians,” Bruce said about Araghchi’s comments. “I will refer back to the President of the United States, President Donald John Trump.”