Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed US President Donald Trump’s remarks about a possible meeting with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, saying the issue should be approached realistically.
“I saw a report which apparently said that Trump said he was ready for a meeting or wanted to hold a meeting. But I think we should be realistic and think and live in the real world,” Araghchi said, according to a report by Al Jazeera.
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Trump on meeting Mojtaba Khamenei
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would be open to meeting Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei if it helped secure a deal with Tehran, adding that he would be “honored” and “respectful” despite admitting he is “not his favorite person, according to Iran International.
“I don’t want to meet, but if I did meet, I’d be honored to meet him. I’d like to see if we make a deal, but if we make a deal, it’s possible that I would meet him. I’d be okay with it,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“I haven’t really heard too much about it. I didn’t suggest it (a meeting), but some people have suggested it. If it happened, it would be happening. I’d be respectful. I would say I’m not his favorite person, but with that being said, he’s probably a professional. In some circles he has a very good reputation, actually.”
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What is happening in the US-Iran war?
Trump on Friday again downplayed the rise in oil prices, which has pushed up gasoline costs since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.
“People thought it was going to be a lot worse,” he told reporters. “Today I looked at $96 a barrel, people thought that was going to be $300 a barrel.”
Araghchi said on Friday there had been “no tangible progress” in negotiations, although the two sides continued to exchange messages through mediators.
Meanwhile, no commercial transit through the Strait of Hormuz was observed on Friday morning, after three passages in each direction were recorded on Thursday, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
With no breakthrough in sight, the standoff suggests Iranian leaders believe they can hold out, betting that growing public opposition to the war among American voters – just months before elections that will determine control of Congress – could force Trump to scale back some of his objectives.
