WASHINGTON, April 23. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump reserves the right to apply any measures to prevent Iran from possessing nuclear weapons, but he would prefer peace, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with The Free Press.
"We do not want a war. We do not want to see war. This is not a president that campaigned on starting wars. And as he said very clearly, Iran is not going to have a nuclear weapon and he reserves every right to prevent that from happening, but he would prefer it not happen," Rubio pointed out.
"He [Trump] would prefer that there not be a need to resort to military force, either by us or anybody else. He would prefer that it’d be something that we can negotiate," the state secretary concluded.
On April 12, the first round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program was held in Muscat between the United States and Iran with Omani mediation. The Iranian delegation was led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and the American delegation by Witkoff.
On April 19, the second round was held in Rome, again mediated by Oman. According to Araghchi, the parties have reached a greater understanding on a number of issues. The next meeting between Araghchi and Witkoff is scheduled for April 26.