US Meeting With Iran Next Week, Trump Says, While Suggesting Nuclear Deal Is No Longer Necessary

Do the Iranians themselves know this? President Trump says Tehran and Washington will meet next week about a potential nuclear agreement. 

"The only thing would be asking for is what we were asking for before," Trump emphasized - though importantly he added that such an agreement is probably not necessary given the claim that the US successfully destroyed Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

"We want no nuclear, but we destroyed the nuclear. In other words, it’s destroyed. I said ‘Iran will not have nuclear.’ Well, we blew it up. It’s blown up to kingdom come, and so I don’t feel very strongly about it. If we got a document, it wouldn’t be bad. We’re going to meet with them," the president said.

In follow-up while addressing the NATO Q&A, Secretary of State Rubio told reporters that such a deal would depend on Iran’s willingness to negotiate directly with the US, as opposed to the intermediaries being used (such as Oman) in earlier rounds of talks.

But all of this again begs the question... was Iran's core nuclear program really destroyed? If everyone can 'agree' - at least publicly for the sake of Trump's narrative - this might mean Iran can simply continue enriching, but truly in secret this time.

Below on some casualty figures in Iran following what Trump dubbed the '12-day war':

At least 627 people were killed in Iran during its conflict with Israel in the period between June 13 and June 25, Iranian state media outlet IRIB reported on Wednesday, citing the country’s health ministry.

At least 4,870 other people were injured during that time, IRIB said.

The health ministry said 86% of the victims died at the scene of Israeli attacks, as cited by IRIB.

Perhaps in five to ten years the Iranians will suddenly declare achievement of an atomic bomb?

Trump seems to be saying 'move on' from the issue in the wake of last weekend's B-2 bombings of three key Iranian nuclear sites:

It is reasonable to conclude that the Iranians have greater incentive than ever to do precisely this - weaponize what remains of their nuclear program - given they were attacked by Israel and the US (which called it 'preemptive' and 'necessary'), and their air-defenses have been largely taken out.