Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free
Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world
Donald Trump said Iran was negotiating “seriously” with the US over its nuclear programme as the president weighs military options after deploying additional warships and fighter jets to the Middle East.
“I hope they negotiate something that’s acceptable,” Trump told reporters as he travelled from Washington to Florida on Saturday night.
He added that Tehran should embrace an agreement “with no nuclear weapons”.
“I don’t know that they will, but they are talking to us, seriously talking to us,” Trump said.
The president has deployed what he has called an “armada” to the Middle East, including the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, as he ramped up pressure on the Islamic regime following a brutal crackdown by Iranian authorities to crush protests in which thousands of people were killed.
He warned Tehran last week that time was “running out” for a deal. On Saturday, he said: “A lot of things could happen.”
Regional powers including Turkey, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates have been engaging with the US and Iran in an effort to ease tensions in the region.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, prime minister of Qatar — which has traditionally mediated between the US and Iran — met senior Iranian official Ali Larijani in Tehran on Saturday.
Larijani, who is secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, on Saturday said on social media that “structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing”.
Iranian officials have said the republic is willing to negotiate with the Trump administration, but only on an equal footing, while vowing that Tehran was also prepared for war.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that the outcomes of negotiations “are determined at the negotiating table, not in advance”.
After meeting his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Istanbul, he said discussions about Iran’s ballistic missile programme — thought to be a key demand from Washington — were off the table.
“Iran’s defence capabilities and missile programme will never be a subject of negotiation,” Araghchi said.
The US wants Iran to permanently cease uranium enrichment, accept limits on its ballistic missile programme and end support for regional militant groups, including Hizbollah in Lebanon and Houthi rebels in Yemen, diplomats and analysts have said.
Iran has repeatedly said it would not agree to end all uranium enrichment, arguing it has a right to enrich the metal as a signatory to the non-proliferation treaty.
Its main enrichment facilities were severely damaged during Israel’s 12-day war against the republic in June, which the US briefly joined to bomb Iran’s three main nuclear sites.
Trump said the US strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme, but the fate of 400kg of highly enriched uranium has remained a concern for western powers.
Israel has also said Iran has rapidly been rebuilding its large ballistic missile arsenal.
Iran has always insisted that its nuclear programme is for civilian use, but it had been enriching uranium to levels close to weapons grade.
Tehran was holding indirect talks with the Trump administration before Israel launched its war against the republic in June, 48 hours before a sixth round of negotiations.
Turkey’s Fidan said on Friday he had spoken with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, and earlier in the week claimed Iran was “ready to renegotiate on the nuclear file”.
Arab and Muslim states have cautioned Trump against launching another attack, which they fear could trigger an outright war in the region and endanger Gulf oil and gas facilities.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, on Sunday warned that if the US attacked, it would ignite a regional war.
“The US is planning to swallow up Iran and Iran’s courageous people will not let that happen,” Khamenei said. “We are not the initiators and do not want to attack any country, but the Iranian nation will strike a strong blow against anyone who attacks and harasses them.”
