Washington: US President Donald Trump said that he expects Iran to agree to a final deal within 60 days of the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU).
If no deal is reached within 60 days beginning Thursday, “we will do things that won’t make them happy,” Trump said at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Friday. “But I don’t think it’s going to get to that.”
The text of the MoU states that the two sides commit to negotiating and achieving the final deal in maximum 60 days, extendable with mutual consent, Xinhua news agency reported.
US-Iran talks scheduled in Switzerland was postponed, with neither side offering an official explanation. Multiple media reports said that Iran withdrew from the talks in response to the latest Israeli strikes in Lebanon.
Earlier on Friday, Trump told NBC News that he had spoken with Israeli leaders and urged them to agree to a ceasefire with Hezbollah.
“It’s a positive,” Trump said in the phone interview. “It’s a little icing on the cake.”
Meanwhile, the US State Department said that a new round of talks between Israel and Lebanon will be held in Washington, DC next week.
Earlier, in a statement, Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs stated, “The Planned talks between the US, Iran, Qatar and Pakistan have been postponed. Switzerland remains ready to facilitate these talks. The relevant preparatory work at Burgenstock is continuing. No further information can be provided at present.”
The talks between he US and Iran were planned to move from a political framework agreement to detailed negotiations on implementation, verification and compliance.
On Thursday night, the White House announced that US Vice President JD Vance’s planned departure for technical negotiations with Iran has been postponed. However, it said preparations for the talks continue and both sides remain focused on launching the next phase of discussions aimed at implementing the recently signed memorandum of understanding.
“As the Vice President said at his press conference, the plans for the upcoming technical talks have not been finalised, and the US delegation has been prepared to depart at the first available opportunity,” a White House spokesperson said late Thursday night.
(IANS)
