State Dept says Saturday meeting with Iran will determine whether Iranians are serious
World
"What happens on Saturday would, I suppose, determine whether there's more," Bruce said
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A meeting between the United States and Iran on Saturday will determine whether or not Tehran is serious, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on Thursday, without ruling out that there may be further talks between the two countries.
"What happens on Saturday would, I suppose, determine whether there's more," Bruce said when asked whether Saturday's talks would be a one-off. "Right now, this is a meeting that is arranged. It is not part of some larger scheme or framework. It is a meeting to determine whether or not the Iranians are serious.
“And so that clearly would be the goal of that singular meeting and effort. As far as the arrangements or what the rooms are, or who's in which rooms, I don't have that for you, and I'm not going to speculate," she stated.
Iran is giving talks with US a 'genuine chance', foreign ministry says
Iran is giving talks with its arch foe the United States this weekend "a genuine chance", the Iranian foreign ministry's spokesperson posted on X on Friday.
US President Donald Trump made a surprise announcement on Monday that Washington and Tehran were poised to begin direct talks in Oman on Saturday over Iran's nuclear program, warning that the Islamic Republic would be in "great danger" if the talks were unsuccessful.
The announcement caused some confusion because Iran had said the talks would be indirect with the Omanis acting as mediators.
Iran, previously stating it wouldn't be bullied into negotiations, said that the US should value this decision despite "their prevailing confrontational hoopla."
"We intend to assess the other side’s intent and resolve this Saturday," Esmaeil Baghaei added.
Iran's state media said the talks would be led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff, with the intermediation of Oman's foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi.
