"We're in very serious negotiations with Iran for
long-term peace," Trump said on a tour of the Gulf.
"We're getting close to maybe doing a deal without
having to do this... there (are) two steps to doing this, there is a very, very
nice step and there is the violent step, but I don't want to do it the second
way," he said.
An Iranian source familiar with the negotiations said there
were still gaps to bridge in the talks with the United States.
Oil prices fell by about US$2 on Thursday on expectations
for a US-Iran nuclear deal that could result in sanctions easing.
Talks between Iranian and US negotiators to resolve disputes
over Tehran's nuclear programme ended in Oman on Sunday with further
negotiations planned, officials said, as Tehran publicly insisted on continuing
its uranium enrichment.
The Trump administration gave Iran a proposal for a nuclear
deal during the fourth round of negotiations on Sunday.
Though Tehran and Washington have both said they prefer
diplomacy to resolve the decades-long nuclear dispute, they remain divided on
several red lines that negotiators will have to circumvent to reach a new deal
and avert future military action.
Iran's president reacted to Trump's comments on Tuesday
calling Tehran the “most destructive force” in the Middle East.
“Trump thinks he can sanction and threaten us and then talk
of human rights. All the crimes and regional instability is caused by them (the
United States),” Masoud Pezeshkian said.
“He wants to create instability inside Iran.”
However, in an interview with NBC News published on
Wednesday, an Iranian official said Iran was willing to agree to a deal with
the US in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei, said Iran would commit to never making nuclear weapons and
getting rid of its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, agree to enrich
uranium only to the lower levels needed for civilian use and allow
international inspectors to supervise the process, NBC reported.
US officials have publicly stated that Iran should halt
uranium enrichment, a stance Iranian officials have called a "red
line" asserting they will not give up what they view as their right to
enrich uranium on Iranian soil.
However, they have indicated a willingness to reduce the
level of enrichment.
Iranian officials have also expressed readiness to reduce
the amount of highly enriched uranium in storage—uranium enriched beyond the
levels typically needed for civilian purposes, such as nuclear power
generation.
But they have said it would not accept lower stockpiles than
the amount agreed in a deal with world powers in 2015 - the deal Trump quit.
The Iranian source said that while Iran is prepared to offer
what it considers concessions, "the issue is that America is not willing
to lift major sanctions in exchange."
Western sanctions have severely impacted the Iranian
economy.
Regarding the reduction of enriched uranium in storage, the
source noted: “Tehran also wants it removed in several stages, which America
doesn't agree with either.”
There is also disagreement over the destination to which the
highly enriched uranium would be sent, the source added.
