US President Donald Trump asserted that American and Iranian officials will talk next week, when he will likely seek a commitment from Iran to end its nuclear ambitions, according to media reports, while Iran has not acknowledged any talks taking place next week.  

Chinese observers pointed out Thursday that although the involved parties have the desire to talk, low political trust and wide divergence limit the chances of this desire translating into an agreement. 

Trump told reporters at a NATO summit in the Hague, Netherlands on Wednesday that he was not particularly interested in restarting negotiations with Iran, insisting that US strikes had destroyed its nuclear program. Earlier in the day, an Iranian official questioned whether the US could be trusted after its weekend attack, AP reported. 

Trump added that his administration would be asking for the same type of commitments it sought in negotiations with Iran prior to recent heightened tensions in the Middle East, per CNN.

Iran's Constitutional Council on Thursday approved a plan, already ratified by the parliament, to suspend the country's cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Xinhua News Agency reported.

The plan, which calls on the Iranian government to halt cooperation with the IAEA, was reviewed by the council and found to be in line with Iran's religious regulations, laws, and constitution, council spokesperson Hadi Tahan Nazif said in an interview with state-run IRIB TV on Thursday.

The US struck three Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday, which US President claimed "completely and fully obliterated" the country's nuclear program. When asked about a US intelligence report that found Iran's nuclear program has been set back only a few months, Trump scoffed and said it would at least take years to rebuild, AP reported.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei claimed in a video message published on Thursday that the US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities had no major effect, Axios reported Thursday.

Trump said he was confident Tehran would pursue a diplomatic path toward reconciliation. The president gave no details on the discussions next week, such as the venue and participants, Reuters reported.

Zou Zhiqiang, a research fellow at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times the US believes Iran is now weaker as its nuclear facilities suffered severe damage, meaning the US will certainly adopt a much tougher position in possible talks and make few concessions. 

Iran, meanwhile, has stated it will not abandon its nuclear program and its domestic political atmosphere would prevent it from making concessions, Zou added, noting that the gap between the two sides is still wide and it will be difficult for the desire for talks to translate into an agreement. 

Zhu Yongbiao, director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at Lanzhou University, told the Global Times that the focal point of their talks, if held, will be the nuclear issue. The US appears to have raised its demands after the weekend strikes, and Iran shows no sign of compromise. If Iran is determined to continue its nuclear program, that could be a new flashpoint.

Also, the two sides' political trust has been further eroded, Zhu said. 

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, said Washington had "torpedoed diplomacy" with its attacks on nuclear sites, and that while Iran in principle was always open to talks, national security was the priority.

The latest escalation of hostility started when Israel launched a surprise attack on June 13, killing Iran's military leadership and leading nuclear scientists. Iran responded with missiles that pierced Israel's defenses in large numbers for the first time. 

A US-Iran negotiation scheduled for June 15 in Oman was canceled after Israel's strikes. 

US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News that Trump is now looking to land "a comprehensive peace agreement that goes beyond even the ceasefire."

Niu Xinchun, executive director of the China-Arab Research Institute at Ningxia University, told the Global Times that previous rounds of US-Iran talks focused on Iran's nuclear issue, and if the US wants "a comprehensive" agreement, that would involve a slate of issues including missiles, agent warfare, and sanctions. It will be way more complex and the possibility of consensus is hard to determine, Niu said.