WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has denied a Wall Street Journal report claiming he has approved a military strike plan on Iran but has held back from issuing a final order.
According to the Wall Street Journal report, Trump informed his senior aides that he was looking at the possibility of striking Iran’s nuclear programme but would make a final decision later.
In a short but pointed message on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote: “The Wall Street Journal has no idea what I think about Iran.”
The Wall Street Journal has claimed in its report that the US president will formally order the attack. However, the formal order for the attack has not been given yet.
The report said that Trump is waiting for Iran to end its nuclear programme.
Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that President Trump is preparing to extend an invitation for talks to an Iranian delegation.
The paper claimed that Iranian officials are likely to accept the invitation.
In another development, Trump convened a high-level meeting with his national security team to discuss US involvement in the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict.
European, Iran FMs to hold nuclear talks
Foreign ministers from Britain, France and Germany together with the EU’s top diplomat will hold nuclear talks with their Iranian counterpart in Geneva on Friday, officials and diplomats said as cited by AFP.
The meeting comes as European countries call for de-escalation in the face of Israel’s bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear programme.
“We will meet with the European delegation in Geneva on Friday,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a statement carried by state news agency IRNA.
European diplomats separately confirmed the planned talks, set to involve French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, as well as EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
Lammy was in Washington on Thursday, where he was due to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for talks focused on Iran, the State Department said.
France, Germany, Britain and the European Union were all signatories of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran sunk by Trump during his first term in office.
The EU’s Kallas, in coordination with European capitals, has insisted diplomacy remains the best path towards ensuring that Iran does not develop a nuclear bomb.
On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said European nations were planning to suggest a negotiated solution to end the Iran-Israel conflict. He has asked his foreign minister to draw up an initiative with “close partners” to that end.
