Trump Says Very Good Iran Talks Leave Deal Possible — Bret Baier
Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he had bret baier very good talks with Iran over the past 24 hours and that it was very possible the United States would make a deal with Tehran. He also said he was optimistic about reaching an agreement before his scheduled trip to China next week.
Trump tied that optimism to demands that Iran suspend its nuclear programme and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and he warned in an interview with PBS that if the talks fail, the United States would go back to “bombing the hell out of them.” The negotiations now sit between that threat and Iran’s public insistence that the U.S. proposal is not yet acceptable.
Trump’s White House remarks
At the White House, Trump told reporters he had “very good talks” with Iran and said it was “very possible that we will make a deal.” He added, “Look, this is very simple. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon because as tough as they are, we want to keep them alive. We want to keep all of you alive,” putting the nuclear issue at the center of the current talks.
He also said he would return to a harder line if no agreement emerges. The president’s comments connect the diplomatic track directly to the two issues that have defined the dispute: Iran’s nuclear programme and control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran’s response
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said reports that an agreement with the United States was close were “exaggerated.” He said Tehran had not yet issued a formal response to the latest U.S. proposal and that it was still exchanging diplomatic messages via mediator Pakistan.
That gap matters because the public tone from Washington and Tehran points in different directions. Trump described momentum; Baghaei described a process still waiting on Iran’s reply.
Strait of Hormuz talks
A Pakistani source and another source briefed on the mediation told that an agreement was close on a one-page memorandum that would formally end the conflict. The reported memorandum would start discussions on unblocking shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, lifting U.S. sanctions on Iran, and setting curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme.
The maritime dispute is one reason the talks carry wider economic stakes. Before the war, the Strait of Hormuz handled one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply, making any changes there a practical issue for shipping and energy markets as well as diplomacy.
Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency said the U.S. proposal contained some unacceptable provisions. Ebrahim Rezaei, the spokesperson for the Iranian Parliament’s Foreign Policy and National Security Committee, wrote on social media that the text was “more of an American wish list than a reality.”
Netanyahu and next steps
U.S. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said Trump prefers a diplomatic solution and that “the Iranian regime can never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.” Benjamin Netanyahu said he would speak with Trump later on Wednesday about the ongoing negotiations with Iran.
That leaves the immediate path in the hands of the two governments and the mediators moving messages between them. Trump is pressing for a deal before he travels to China next week, while Tehran has still not given a formal answer to the latest U.S. text.
