Arabic version: ترامب يقول إنه لا جدول زمني لمحادثات إيران

According to Al Jazeera, United States President Donald Trump said he has “no time schedule” for Iran to return to negotiations aimed at ending the conflict the US began months ago. Speaking to Al Jazeera’s Tanya Noury on Wednesday, Trump said: “I’m not in a hurry. I have no time schedule at all.”

Trump said the US was “winning very big”, citing inflation, economic conditions and the treatment of protesters in Iran. Asked whether economic measures were more effective than military strikes, he said, “I think they are both effective.” Friday marks six months since the US war on Iran began.

The remarks differ from Trump’s earlier comments after the war began on February 28, when he repeatedly suggested the conflict would be over in “four to six” weeks. In June, the US and Iran signed a 60-day memorandum of understanding covering transit through the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions relief and talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme. The agreement expired earlier this month.

On Monday, the US announced enhanced sanctions on Iran and 60 entities in several countries doing business with it. Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the measures a threat to international law and the United Nations charter. The rial has fallen past 2 million to $1 on the free market, while prices of tomatoes, chicken and cooking oil have risen sharply. Analysts questioned whether the sanctions would compel Tehran to negotiate, noting that China receives at least 90 percent of Iran’s crude oil exports. Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute said the measures would likely be painful for Iranians, but said converting that pressure into a policy shift was “a completely different thing.”