In a surprise statement President Trump says he has been holding "direct talks" with Iran and a "very big meeting" involving "very high-level" officials is planned for this coming Saturday.

The declaration was unexpected given that as recently as this weekend Iran repeated that it would not hold talks with Washington so long as "maximum pressure" by the White House remains in place. Tehran has also rejected that talks can happen while Trump threatens to bomb Iran.

The other surprise is the context, as Trump made the claims while hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office. The Israeli leader has applauded Trump's return to maximum pressure, and has hinted at Israeli military action if Iran is perceived as pursuing a nuclear bomb.

"We have a very big meeting on Saturday, and we’re dealing with them directly," Trump stated in reference to the Iranians. "You know, a lot of people say, ‘Oh, maybe you’re going through surrogates, you’re not dealing directly, you’re dealing through other countries.’ No — we’re dealing with them directly."

"I think everyone agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious. And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with, or frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with, if they can avoid it," Trump said, in apparent reference to a military option.

Continuing to speak about potential future strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, he continued, "So we're going to see if we can avoid it. But it's getting to be very dangerous territory, and hopefully those talks will be successful. And I think it would be in Iran's best interest if they are successful."

But Iran certainly hasn't confirmed that direct talks have been happening. Instead, Trump could simply be anticipating talks which haven't happened yet but are in the works in terms of preparation - though he did clearly emphasize direct talks were happening. A Monday afternoon Bloomberg report notes a fresh Iranian Foreign Ministry statement as follows:

Earlier Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the country was waiting for a US response to what he called a “responsible, generous, and wise offer.” He added that the Gulf-Arab Sultanate of Oman, which has facilitated dialogue between Tehran and Washington in the past, is a “main candidate” to mediate talks with the US if they take place.

“The offer for direct negotiations isn’t acceptable to us for reasons repeatedly stated before, but we’re ready for indirect negotiations through Oman,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said earlier, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency. “The ball is in the US court.”

At the moment, a second US aircraft carrier is en route to the Red Sea region to support Yemen operations. The USS Carl Vinson is in the Indian Ocean, and Iran has been carefully monitoring its progress, with reports of Tehran leadership having put the Iranian armed forces on high alert.

Advanced American bombers are also conducting counter-Houthi operations out of Deigo Garcia in the Indian Ocean, and Tehran is worried about their proximity. Many analysts believe these Pentagon assets were moved there in case anything big happens with Iran.

Tehran has also been warning Gulf Arab states that they must not cooperate with any kind of US or Israeli military operation targeting the Islamic Republic. So far countries like Saudi Arabia have signaled they will stay out of any conflict, and will refuse their airspace for any preemptive attacks.

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More reporting on the coming Saturday talks, via NY Times correspondent...