WASHINGTON, May 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Donald Trump said that he is open to talks with the Iranian leadership, amid mounting tensions between Washington and Tehran.
“What I would like to see with Iran, I would like to see them call me,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
The US president claimed that former US secretary of state John Kerry had told Iran “not to call.”
“But they should call,” he said. “If they do, we are open to talk to them.”
Trump also said that he ordered the deployment of an aircraft carrier group to the Persian Gulf because the Iranians “were threatening.”
“We have information that you don’t want to know about,” he said. “We don’t want them to have nuclear weapons — not much to ask.”
On Wednesday, Iran informed signatories to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal that it no longer plans to adhere to certain “voluntary commitments” made in the accord.
Last year, Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and has since then increased sanctions on Iran. The US accuses Iran of violating the pact by secretly building nuclear bombs.
Iran’s decision to withdraw from some parts of the nuclear deal came after the US dispatched the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group with a bomber task force to the Middle East to send a “clear and unmistakable” message to Tehran. — NNN-AGENCIES