Trump says Iran seeks deal as US aircraft carrier arrives in Middle East
Iranian officials have signaled they are open to nuclear talks but unwilling to compromise on enrichment.
WASHINGTON — As he weighs a military response to this month’s deadly protest crackdown in Iran, President Donald Trump said Monday that he believes that the country’s leaders are seeking a diplomatic agreement with the United States.
“They want to make a deal. I know so. They called on numerous occasions. They want to talk,” Trump told Axios in an interview.
He spoke as the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group entered Middle Eastern waters on Monday, giving the Trump administration greater options to strike within Iranian territory.
“We have a big armada next to Iran. Bigger than Venezuela," Trump told Axios.
Earlier this month, Trump repeatedly warned that he would target Iran’s government over its violent protest crackdown, which rights groups say killed thousands of Iranian civilians. Trump tempered his threats after Arab partners reportedly warned that US strikes could provoke retaliatory attacks against American military bases in their countries.
On Monday, an Emirati Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the United Arab Emirates wouldn’t allow its airspace to be used in "hostile military actions against Iran.” The UAE hosts several thousand US troops at the Al Dhafra Air Base.
Trump’s top Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said last week that the administration’s preference was for a diplomatic outcome that would address Iran’s nuclear enrichment, missile production, stockpiles of enriched uranium and regional proxies. Iranian officials have signaled they are open to indirect talks but are unwilling to compromise on their ability to enrich uranium.
Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led five rounds of mostly indirect nuclear negotiations between Washington and Tehran, which broke down during Israel’s 12-day war in June.
As Israel began attacking Iran, Trump urged the Islamic Republic to “make a deal” to curb its rapidly advancing nuclear program. US warplanes struck three Iranian nuclear facilities just over a week later.
