President Donald Trump Monday said that US and Iran were in the “throes of a real possibility of making a deal” and that the two sides had “major points of agreement”.
“We have had very, very strong talks. We’ll see where they lead. We have points, major points of agreement, I would say, almost all points of agreement … we’ve had very strong talks,” Trump said. “All I’m saying is, we are in the throes a real possibility of making a deal,” he told reporters.
The US President spoke out on a range of topics related to the Iran conflict that entered its 24th day on Monday. The latest update on the war in West Asia came hours after Trump announced that Washington and talks and that he had ordered a pause on military strikes on Iran’s power plants. Iran has refuted that such talks are taking place.
Speaking to reporters later, Trump said that Iran initiated negotiations. “They called, I didn’t call,” he said, adding that both sides want a deal.
Talks with Iran
“We have had very strong talks with Iran. If they carry through with them, it will end the conflict. They want to make a deal, we want to make a deal,” the US President said.
Trump told reporters Monday that his Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner conducted talks Sunday evening and that discussion would continue today.
Notably, the Republican leader did not name anyone representing Tehran, just referring to the Iranian interlocutor as a “respected” figure, but not the supreme leadership. Trump said the US has not talked to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son and successor Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who was killed in coordinated US and Israeli strikes.
Iran’s uranium stockpile
Trump said Tehran had “agreed to no nuclear weapons” and that US would capture Iran’s enriched uranium if a deal is reached between the two countries.
He also expressed confidence that a deal could be reached soon with the primary focus on ending Iran’s nuclear programme and preventing further conflict.
Trump made it clear that dismantling Iran’s nuclear capabilities remains a non-negotiable condition for any agreement. “There’s got to be no more wars, no more nuclear weapons,” he said, claiming that Iran had signalled its willingness to comply. He also suggested that, under a potential deal, the US could take custody of Iran’s enriched uranium, a component of its nuclear programme.
Trump said a breakthrough agreement would have immediate economic benefits predicting that would “drop like a rock” once a deal is finalised. He reiterated his stance that global oil supply should be maximised, saying he wants “as much oil in the system as possible” to stabilise markets.
Who runs Tehran
Trump also struck a hard line on Iran’s leadership, hinting at the possibility of “a very serious form of regime change.” But then he suggested that recent military actions targeting senior Iranian figures could already be reshaping the country’s power structure.
Trump said he doesn’t consider Mojtaba Khamenei to be the country’s leader.
What if there’s no deal
Trump stressed that military options remain on the table. “If there’s no deal, we will just keep bombing,” he said, reinforcing that the pause in strikes is conditional and temporary.
The US president also said on Monday that the Strait of Hormuz could reopen “very soon,” expressing optimism that ongoing negotiations with Iran would help restore normal shipping operations.
In an interview with CNN reporter, Trump indicated that the reopening of the strait depends on the progress of talks, suggesting a breakthrough could be imminent. He also floated the idea of the waterway being placed under some form of joint oversight by the United States and Iran.
