The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has assured this Monday that within approximately one week he will have clarity on whether the speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohamed Baqer Qalibaf, can be considered a legitimate representative to engage in conversations on behalf of Iran.
"We are going to know. I will tell you in about a week," Trump said in an interview with "The New York Post" when asked if Qalibaf is willing to cooperate with the United States.
In recent weeks, Qalibaf has been identified by Washington as its main contact option with Tehran, despite his hardline reputation in his public statements and his ties with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
Trump has argued that "there has been a total regime change" as a consequence of the bombings initiated on February 28. "The previous ones are no longer there and we are dealing with a new group of people and so far they have been much more reasonable," he stressed.
In relation to the new Iranian supreme leader, Moqtaba Jamenei, Trump has stressed that "nobody knows anything about him." "He is very seriously injured," he added.
Subsequently, the White House spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, has stressed that negotiations with Iran are progressing positively, favored by the damage inflicted on about 70 percent of the facilities dedicated to the manufacturing of missiles, drones, and vessels.
"It is no surprise that the remaining elements of the regime are increasingly eager to end the destruction and go to the negotiating table while they still can despite all the public posturing," he indicated. "What they say in public is very different from what they communicate to us in private," he stressed.