Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Thursday that it was not reasonable to expect quick results from talks with the United States.
“Expecting to reach a result in a short time, regardless of who the mediator is, in my opinion, is not very realistic," he was quoted as saying by the IRNA news agency.
Meanwhile, a senior official in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said any new US attack on Iran, even if limited, would usher in “long and painful strikes" on US regional positions.
At the same time, Iranian Aerospace Force Commander Majid Mousavi was quoted by Iranian media as saying, “We’ve seen what happened to your regional bases, we will see the same thing happen to your warships."
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office earlier on Thursday that Iran is "dying to make a deal," adding that "hopefully it can be worked out very soon."
Asked about the future of negotiations, Trump replied, "Nobody knows what the talks are except myself and a couple of other people."
"I mean, Iran is dying to make a deal. I can only tell you that. I don't want to get into it, but they got - they cannot be nuclear other than that. But they are," he added.
Trump stressed, “The bottom line is for this world, for our country, but certainly for Israel, the Middle East and Europe, much closer, you cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon."
Trump last weekend cancelled a visit by his envoys to Islamabad for talks with Iran. On Wednesday, he told reporters that efforts to bring an end to the war with Iran are continuing through telephone conversations rather than in-person meetings.
The US President’s comments were made after he rejected Iran’s most recent proposal, telling Axios that he intends to maintain a naval blockade on Iran until Tehran agrees to terms addressing American concerns over its nuclear program.
The Iranian proposal rejected by Trump envisions reopening the Strait of Hormuz while postponing discussions on Iran’s nuclear activities.
Trump on Thursday was to have received a briefing by CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper on fresh plans for possible military action against Iran.