Washington: US President Donald J. Trump refuted press speculations that he has recently waived off Israeli plans to attack Iranian nuclear facilities after his administration engaged in talks with the Islamic republic. “I’m not in a rush to do it because I think that Iran has a chance to have a great country and to live happily without death, and I’d like to see that,” he said in reply to a question from a reporter on Thursday.

According to Kuwait News Agency, President Trump expressed a preference for diplomatic solutions over military action, stating, “That’s my first option. If there’s a second option, I think it would be very bad for Iran-I don’t want to do anything that’s going to hurt anybody-but Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.” These comments were made during a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Rome is scheduled to host the second round of US-Iran nuclear talks this Saturday. US Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held the first round in Muscat, the capital of Oman, last Saturday.