WASHINGTON, March 1 - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Iran’s recently installed leadership wishes to enter into talks with him, and that he has accepted their request, according to an interview published in the Atlantic magazine. "They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them. They should have done it sooner. They should have given what was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long," he said in the interview conducted from his Florida residence.
Trump did not identify who among Iran’s leaders he would be speaking with, nor did he confirm whether the conversation would take place on Sunday or Monday. The president’s comments leave the prospective interlocutors and the schedule unspecified.
Separately, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said that a leadership council made up of himself, the head of the judiciary and a member of the powerful Guardians Council has temporarily assumed the supreme leader’s duties following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. That development was described by Pezeshkian as a temporary transfer of responsibilities to the council.
In the Atlantic interview, Trump also reflected on the composition of the Iranian team that had engaged with the United States in earlier discussions. "Most of those people are gone. Some of the people we were dealing with are gone, because that was a big - that was a big hit," he said. He added that Iran could have reached a deal earlier, saying: "They should have done it sooner, Michael. They could have made a deal. They should’ve done it sooner. They played too cute." The remarks were attributed to Atlantic staff writer Michael Scherer.
The public statements leave several concrete details unresolved: the precise Iranian officials who prompted the outreach, the forum or channel for any talks, and when those conversations might occur. At the same time, Iran’s description of a temporary leadership council taking on the supreme leader’s functions underscores a change in the country’s internal power arrangements.
Summary
President Trump says Iran’s new leadership has asked to speak with him and that he has agreed, though he did not name interlocutors or confirm timing. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian reported that a temporary leadership council is carrying out the supreme leader’s duties after Ayatollah Khamenei’s death. Trump noted that many individuals involved in earlier discussions with the U.S. are no longer in place.