Trump Admin Issues Statement After Face-to-Face Meeting with Iranian Leadership Iran is considering proposing an interim nuclear deal with the United States in an effort to buy more time to negotiate after President Donald Trump gave the nation a two-month deadline to dismantle its nuclear program. Trump has refused to rule out using military force if Iran refuses to comply. Trump set the two-month deadline in a letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei back in March. According to a report from Axios, both Israel and the United States are willing to use military force if Iran rejects Trump’s outreach and refuses to negotiate. “So far, we have no reason to publicize [Trump’s] letter … Our response to this letter will be done through appropriate channels after full scrutiny,” foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in response to the letter, which has not been made public. Iran rejected Trump’s calls for direct talks, though they did agree to “indirect” talks, which got underway in Oman on Saturday. Iran’s state-run broadcaster revealed that U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi “briefly spoke” together over the weekend, marking the first time the two nations have conducted diplomacy since the Obama Administration. The fact that Iran’s state media reported on the face-to-face meeting, even if it was brief, suggests that negotiations could be off to a good start. In a statement released Saturday afternoon, the White House described the discussions as “very positive and constructive,” while adding that resolving the long-running crisis is “very complicated” and must resolved swiftly. During the talks, Iran proposed an interim nuclear deal in hopes of buying more time for more complex negotiations, according to a report from the Associated Press. “Special Envoy Witkoff’s direct communication today was a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome,” the White House said. The first round of talks began around 3:30 p.m. local time just outside Oman’s capital of Muscat, the AP reported. Discussions continued until around 5:50 p,m. before scheduling the next round of talks for April 19. The diplomatic breakthrough comes as Israel and Western powers have stated that Iran has made significant progress in its pursuit of building nuclear weapons over the last four years. Its stockpile of 60% enriched uranium is enough for six nuclear bombs if enriched to 90%, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran has denied that it is seeking to build nuclear weapons, instead claiming the program is meant for domestic energy production. “Neither we nor the other side are interested in fruitless negotiations — so-called ‘talks for the sake of talks,’ wasting time, or drawn-out, exhausting negotiations,” Araghchi said after Saturday’s meeting. “Both sides, including the Americans, have said that their goal is also to reach an agreement in the shortest possible time. However, that will certainly not be an easy task.” Both Trump and Witkoff are reportedly pleased with the outcome, describing the talks as “direct” despite Iran’s rhetoric. “I think our position begins with dismantlement of your program. That is our position today,” Witkoff told The Wall Street Journal before his trip. “That doesn’t mean, by the way, that at the margin we’re not going to find other ways to find compromise between the two countries.” Badr al-Busaidi, Oman’s foreign minister who sought to serve as an independent mediator, said the two adversarial nations have a “shared aim of concluding a fair and binding agreement.” “I would like to thank my two colleagues for this engagement, which took place in a friendly atmosphere conducive to bridging viewpoints and ultimately achieving regional and global peace, security and stability,” al-Busaidi posted on X. “We will continue to work together and put further efforts to assist in arriving at this goal.” Any potential agreement will likely contain sanctions relief for Iran’s beleaguered economy in exchange for restrictions on uranium enrichment. Under the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran could only maintain a small stockpile of uranium enriched to 3.67 percent. Today, Tehran’s stockpile could allow it to build multiple nuclear weapons if it so chooses. It also has some material enriched up to 60 percent, a short step away from weapons-grade levels, the AP noted.