Trump says he is "deeply engaged in negotiations" with Iran and was once close to holding direct talks.

Golden Finance reports that on April 5, according to the Axios website, U.S. President Donald Trump, in a telephone interview, said the United States is holding “in-depth negotiations” with Iran and is hopeful that an agreement will be reached before Tuesday’s deadline. “There’s a good chance we’ll reach an agreement, but if they don’t, I’m going to destroy everything over there,” he said. When asked whether he is concerned about harming innocent civilians, Trump said he believes the Iranian people who oppose the government of their own country would support such strikes in order to weaken the regime. In an approximately 8-minute phone interview, Trump said his special envoys Wittekoff and Kushner are conducting intensive negotiations with Iran. Two people familiar with the talks said communication takes place not only through intermediaries such as Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey, but also through text messages between Trump advisers and Iran’s foreign minister, Aragchi. “The negotiations are going well, but dealing with Iranians is always difficult to get to the finish line,” Trump said. He also said that just a few days ago, the two sides had at one point been close to reaching an agreement to hold direct talks. “But they said they’d meet again in five days. I asked, why five days? I don’t think they’re serious enough. So I attacked the bridge,” Trump said. (Jin10)