Trump Says Iran Is in Talks With the US, Signals Possible Deal to Avert Military Action

Accordign to Rokna, citing The Guardian, “[Iran is] talking to us, and we’ll see if we can do something. Otherwise, we’ll see what happens… We have a large fleet heading there,” Trump told Fox News, adding: “They are negotiating.”

Trump said U.S. allies in the region have not been informed of plans related to potential strikes, citing security concerns. He has previously threatened to intervene in Iran following a deadly crackdown on anti-government protests.

“We can’t tell them the plan. If I told them the plan, it would be almost as bad as telling you — maybe worse,” he said.

Washington has deployed a naval battle group led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln near Iran’s coast after Trump warned of possible intervention in response to the crackdown.

Speaking later on Saturday, Trump declined to say whether he had made a final decision regarding Iran. Addressing reporters while flying to Florida, he avoided answering whether Iran would feel emboldened if the U.S. refrained from launching strikes, saying: “Some people think that. Some people don’t.”

Trump said Iran should agree to a “satisfactory” deal to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons, but added: “I don’t know if they will. But they are talking to us — seriously talking to us.”

Qatar said in a statement that Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani visited Tehran on Saturday and met with Ali Larijani as part of “efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region.”

These developments coincided with the deployment of the U.S. naval battle group off Iran’s shores, a move that has fueled fears of a direct confrontation. Iran has warned it would retaliate with missile strikes on U.S. bases, vessels, and allies — particularly Israel — if attacked.

Trump has said he believes Iran would prefer reaching an agreement over its nuclear and missile programs rather than facing U.S. military action. Tehran, for its part, has said it is open to nuclear negotiations provided its missile and defense capabilities are excluded.

“Contrary to the hype of a manufactured media war, structural arrangements for negotiations are moving forward,” said Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, a day after the Kremlin announced that Larijani had held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that a wider conflict would harm both Iran and the United States. “The Islamic Republic of Iran has never sought war and does not seek it in any way, and it firmly believes that war would benefit neither Iran, nor the United States, nor the region,” he said during a call with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, according to Iran’s presidency.

Iran’s army chief, Amir Hatami, earlier warned the U.S. and Israel against any attack, saying Iranian forces were at “full defensive and military readiness.” He said any mistake by the enemy would threaten its own security, regional stability, and the security of Israel, according to IRNA, adding that Iran’s nuclear technology and expertise “cannot be eliminated.”

Amid heightened tensions, Iranian authorities denied that several incidents on Saturday were linked to attacks or sabotage, including an explosion in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, which firefighters said was caused by a gas leak.

On Friday, U.S. Central Command said Iran’s Revolutionary Guards would hold a two-day live-fire naval exercise in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global energy supplies. In a statement, CENTCOM warned Iran against “unsafe and unprofessional behavior” near U.S. forces.

The warning drew criticism from Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who wrote on X that the U.S. military, operating near Iran’s shores, was attempting to dictate how Iran’s armed forces conduct exercises in their own territory.

The United States designated the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization in 2019, a decision the European Union followed on Thursday, prompting strong reactions from Tehran.