Trump: Khamenei Should Be "Very Worried"

SadaNews - U.S. President Donald Trump issued a warning to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei amid uncertainty surrounding the possibility of talks between the United States and Iran this week.

Trump told NBC News on Wednesday that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei "should be very worried."

In Tehran, the government news agency Mehr quoted an informed source stating that Iran is ready to negotiate on the nuclear file within a specific framework based on mutual respect, holding the United States responsible for any potential collapse of the talks due to its insistence on raising demands and issues outside the scope of the agreement.

Trump's warning came after Axios reported, citing American officials, that plans for talks between Washington and Tehran are threatened with collapse after the Iranians informed the U.S. on Wednesday that they rejected the request to change the location and format of the scheduled talks on Friday.

Two American officials stated that the U.S. administration rejected moving the talks from Istanbul to Oman and holding them in a bilateral format after Iran demanded that the discussion be limited to the nuclear issue only and exclude other files, including the missile program.

Axios quoted a senior U.S. official saying, "We told them the option is to adhere to the agreed format or nothing, and their response was: then nothing," adding that Washington is still prepared to meet this week or next week if Tehran agrees to return to the original arrangements.

The official indicated that the United States is seeking a "real quick agreement," warning that other alternatives remain on the table, referring to President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to resort to military options.

According to the site, White House envoy Steve Edgeton, accompanied by Jared Kushner, the U.S. President's son-in-law and advisor, is scheduled to travel to Qatar on Thursday for consultations regarding Iran with the Qatari Prime Minister, after which Edgeton will return to Miami instead of proceeding to meet the Iranian side.

Earlier today, Trump stated that he discussed the situation in Iran with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a phone call described as extensive, as the U.S. administration intensifies its pressure on Beijing and other countries to isolate Tehran.

Trump, who is still considering options that include taking military action against Iran, announced last month via a social media post his intention to impose a 25 percent tax on imports to the United States from countries that continue to trade with Iran.