Trumps says Iran talks to start next week as Witkoff draws red line

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme will resume "next week", with his regional envoy Steve Witkoff outlining key red lines on enrichment and weaponisation.

Speaking at the NATO summit in The Hague, Trump told reporters: "We're going to talk to them next week, with Iran. We may sign an agreement. I don't know. To me, I don't think it's necessary."

He added that the US would be making the same demands on the nuclear programme, but that it's been "blown up, to Kingdom Come, so I don't feel strongly about it."

CIA Director John Ratcliffe echoed Trump’s remarks, saying Iran’s nuclear programme had been "destroyed", with several sites expected to take years to rebuild.

Witkoff, the US envoy for the Middle East, told CNBC that the US remains "hopeful for a comprehensive peace agreement".

He confirmed that discussions were ongoing: "We're having conversations with the Iranians, there are multiple interlocutors who are reaching out to us, and I think they're ready, that's my strong sense."

"Enrichment is the red line, and beyond enrichment, weaponisation is the red line. We can't have weaponisation," he added.

Talks are expected to be held in Oman, with the US reportedly agreeing to Muscat's proposal to host a new round of negotiations early next week. Iran has yet to give a final response, according to regional sources cited by Iran International.

Meanwhile, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, made his first appearance on Thursday since the 12-day war with Israel began, stating that "nothing significant" had occurred at nuclear sites struck by the United States.

"They attacked our nuclear facilities, which of course would merit criminal prosecution in international courts, but they did nothing significant," Khamenei said in a televised speech aired by state TV.

Meanwhile, the Israeli strike on Evin Prison in Tehran prompted fears over the state of prisoners, many of whom were there for political reasons.

According to Iranian dissident, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former prisoner at Evin, Narges Mohammadi, prisoners held in intelligence-run wards have been transferred to other locations, although their whereabouts and conditions are unknown.

She added that the status of prisoners in several other wards, including those run by the IRGC and judicial intelligence, is also unknown, and that inmates from the general ward have been relocated.

Images released by the Iranian authorities show extensive damage to the intelligence wing of the prison, Ward 209, following an Israeli airstrike.