US President Donald Trump wants Iran to know that "all options are on the table" for preventing it from developing nuclear weapons, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Friday.
Her comments came ahead of talks between the US and Iran, scheduled to take place in Oman on Saturday.
Leavitt stated that Trump's "ultimate objective is to ensure that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon" and that the President believes in diplomacy.
"But he's made it very clear to the Iranians and his national security team will as well, that all options are on the table, and Iran has a choice to make. You can agree to President Trump's demand, or there will be all hell to pay, and that's how the president feels. He feels very strongly about it," she said.
Despite Trump’s insistence that the talks in Oman would be direct, Iranian officials said the encounter would involve indirect engagement rather than face-to-face talks.
Iran recently rejected Trump’s offer for direct talks, as outlined in a letter sent by the President to Khamenei.
On Wednesday, Trump said that, if military action is required to thwart Iran’s nuclear program, Israel will be involved and even lead the effort.
“With Iran, if it requires military, we’re going to have military. Israel will be the leader of that. But nobody leads us, we do what we want to do,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office.
Asked what his deadline would be for Iran to reach a deal, the President replied, “I can’t really be specific, but when you start talks, you know if they’re going along well or not, and I would say the conclusion would be when I think they’re not going along well."
Trump has repeatedly said that he would prefer to reach a deal with Iran rather than have to attack its nuclear facilities, but has left the military option on the table.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)