Source : NEW INDIAN EXPRESS NEWS
The US and Iran have engaged in four rounds of talks since early last month about the country’s nuclear program. Trump has said that he believes brokering a nuclear deal is possible but that the window is closing.
At the state dinner, he called on Iran’s leadership to “get moving” or risk the situation spiraling into a head-on conflict.
“Because things like that get started and they get out of control,” Trump said. “I’ve seen it over and over again. They go to war and things get out of control, and we’re not going to let that happen.”
Trump, in his appearance at the Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Riyadh, also said that Tehran “must stop sponsoring terror, halt its bloody proxy wars and permanently and verifiably cease pursuit of nuclear weapons” as conditions for any deal.
The call for Iran to cease support of Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen comes as that proxy network has faced significant setbacks in the 19 months since Hamas launched its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
In Iran, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called Trump’s remarks “deceitful” but did not directly address his demands.
Trump said that he also believed the moment was ripe “for a future free from the grip of Hezbollah terrorists.”
Hezbollah is severely weakened after its war last year with Israel, in which much of its top leadership was killed and after losing a key ally with the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, a conduit for Iran to send arms.
Lifting sanctions on Syria
While in Riyadh, Trump also met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, a face-to-face engagement with the onetime insurgent leader who spent years imprisoned by US forces after being captured in Iraq.
Al-Sharaa was named president of Syria in January, a month after a stunning offensive by insurgent groups led by al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham stormed Damascus and ended the 54-year rule of the Assad family.
Trump said he decided to meet with al-Sharaa after being encouraged to do so by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He also pledged to lift yearslong sanctions on Syria.
The White House billed the al-Sharaa meeting as a brief “pull aside” that ended up lasting 33 minutes.
Trump told reporters that the meeting went “great” and described him as a “young, attractive guy” with a “very strong past.”
“He’s got a real shot at holding it together,” Trump said.
Formerly known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, al-Sharaa joined the ranks of al-Qaida insurgents battling US forces in Iraq after the US-led invasion. He still faces a warrant for his arrest on terrorism charges in Iraq. The US once offered $10 million for information about his whereabouts because of his links to al-Qaida.
Al-Sharaa returned to his home country of Syria after the conflict began in 2011 and led al-Qaida’s branch called the Nusra Front. He changed the name of his group to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and cut links with al-Qaida.
The sanctions go back to the rule of Bashar Assad, who was ousted in December, and were intended to inflict major pain on his economy.
SOURCE :- NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
