New York, March 16 – US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he was willing to talk to Iran’s leadership, and that some in Iran wanted to talk to the US. However, he added, “We have no idea who they are,” due to the chaos following the killing of several high-ranking officials.
He said he talked to everyone because “sometimes good things come out of it,” even though some questioned why he should talk to Iran.
At the same time, he said he didn’t know if the Iranian regime was ready yet. “They’re under a lot of pressure. I don’t know if they’re ready, and we don’t even know their leaders,” he said.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that Iran saw no reason to talk with the US. He added that Iran had never asked for a ceasefire or negotiations.
Trump was speaking to reporters after a meeting on renovating the Kennedy Centre in Washington, the national performance venue now renamed after him.
When asked about Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his father Ali Khamenei after he was killed in a bombing raid at the outset of the conflict, Trump said, “We don’t know if he’s dead or not.”
He said nobody had seen him, unlike his father, who often spoke in public. He added that this could be for many reasons.
Trump said people were claiming that Mojtaba Khamenei was badly disfigured, that he had lost one or both legs, or had been severely injured. Others were saying he was dead. “Nobody’s saying he’s 100 per cent healthy,” he said.
Trump avoided answering a reporter’s question about what he would demand of Iran if talks were to take place.