From the Liveblog of
Sunday, March 1, 2026
After Trump says he’ll talk to Iran, White House clarifies strikes will proceed first
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
After US President Donald Trump told The Atlantic that he ‘will be talking’ to leaders of Iran who expressed interest in talking, a senior White House official clarifies that such conversations won’t be happening just yet.
“President Trump said new potential leadership in Iran has indicated they want to talk and eventually he will talk. For now, Operation Epic Fury continues unabated,” the White House official says in a statement sent to querying reporters, using the US name for the campaign of airstrikes in Iran in conjunction with Israel.
“They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them. They should have done it sooner,” Trump was quoted earlier today as saying by The Atlantic, a US magazine. “They should have given what was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long.”
He did not give a timeframe for the conversations. His remarks came a day after the US and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran intended to expedite regime change, with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei killed in a strike on his compound, and no successor appointed.
The Times of Israel Community.