President Donald Trump said that he was cutting engagement in the Pakistani-hosted talks with Iran. 

“If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us. You know, there is a telephone. We have nice, secure lines,” the President told Fox News on Sunday. “They know what has to be in the agreement. It’s very simple: they cannot have a nuclear weapon, otherwise there’s no reason to meet.”

While the White House has issued a myriad of demands to Tehran, in recent days, the President has focused on Iran’s nuclear program. Before the US and Israeli war on Iran, Tehran ran a civilian nuclear program. 

Iran has the capability to enrich uranium, and so far, has limited the program to producing nuclear fuel and medication. The Trump administration has attempted to redefine nuclear enrichment as part of a weapons program without civilian purposes. Multiple countries have enrichment programs with nuclear weapons. 

Tehran maintains that it will agree to restrictions and inspections on its nuclear program to ensure that it is only used for civilian programs; however, Iran asserts that its enrichment program is key to its sovereignty, and will not agree to halt operations for an extended period of time. 

Nearly three weeks ago, Pakistan brokered a ceasefire between Iran and the US, intended to facilitate talks between Washington and Tehran in Islamabad. Earlier this month, Vice President JD Vance led a US delegation in talks that failed to produce an agreement. 

Tehran now says it will not send a representative to talks with Washington until the US lifts the blockade of Iranian ports.