By Jana Choukeir and Ahmed Elimam
(Reuters) -The United States is prepared to make a deal with Iran when Tehran is ready, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a speech to the Israeli parliament on Monday.
Tehran and Washington held five rounds of nuclear talks, prior to a 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June, which Washington joined by striking key Iranian nuclear sites.
The talks faced major stumbling blocks such as the issue of uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, which Western powers want to bring down to zero to minimise any risk of weaponisation, a plan that Tehran has rejected.
“We are ready when you are and it will be the best decision that Iran has ever made, and it’s going to happen,” Trump said, referring to a deal with Iran.
“The hand of friendship and cooperation is open. I’m telling you, they (Iran) want to make a deal… it would be great if we could make a deal,” Trump told the Israeli Knesset.
On Saturday, Iran’s foreign minister welcomed a potential “fair and balanced” U.S. proposal on its nuclear programme, but said Tehran has not received any starting points for negotiation.
“If we receive a reasonable, balanced, and fair proposal from the Americans for negotiations, we will certainly consider it,” Abbas Araqchi told state television on Saturday, adding that Tehran and Washington had been exchanging messages through mediators.
Trump was welcomed in Israel on Monday where he addressed the Knesset ahead of a planned trip to Egypt for a summit aimed at building conditions for a lasting peace in Gaza.
“There’s nothing that would do more good for this part of the world than for Iran’s leaders to renounce terrorists…and finally recognise Israel’s right to existence,” Trump said.
But Araqchi said on Saturday the notion that Iran could normalise relations with Israel was “wishful thinking.”
“Iran will never recognise an occupying regime that has committed genocide and killed children,” he said.
Araqchi declined an Egyptian invitation to attend the summit in a post on X on Monday: “While favouring diplomatic engagement, neither President Pezeshkian nor I can engage with counterparts who have attacked the Iranian people and continue to threaten and sanction us.”
(Reporting Jana Choukeir and Ahmad Elimam; Writing by Elwely Elwelly;Editing by Alison Williams and Ros Russell)
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