Trump told reporters in West Palm Beach, adding discussions are underway between his envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, and Iran to reach an end to hostilities in the Middle East.
“They want very much to make a deal. We’d like to make a deal too,” Trump said.
He added that there are “major points of agreement” in talks that happened on Sunday evening that were "initiated by Iran," and “If they carry through with that, it’ll end that problem, that conflict, and I think it’ll end it very, very substantially.”
He added that further phone calls were expected Monday, followed by an in-person meeting “very, very soon.”
“I didn’t call; they called. They want to make a deal ... We are very willing to make a deal,” he told reporters, without providing details.
Trump said that if an agreement is reached, the Strait of Hormuz would be opened “straight away” and could be “jointly controlled.”
He added that oil prices would “drop like a rock as soon as the deal is made.”
Iranian officilas have maintained that the Strait of Hormus was closed only to US and Israeli-linked ships and vessels affiliated with countries that support the war on Iran.
In a post on X on Sunday evening, Iran FM abbas Araghchi wrote, “Strait of Hormuz is not closed. Ships hesitate because insurers fear the war of choice you initiated—not Iran,” the Iranian foreign minister said in a post on X on Sunday. “No insurer—and no Iranian—will be swayed by more threats. Try respect,” he said. “Freedom of Navigation cannot exist without Freedom of Trade. Respect both—or expect neither,” Araghchi added.
On Monday, reverting to tough language, Trump told reporters that US forces were prepared to strike Iran’s largest power plants, as he threatened on Saturday, if no deal was reached in five days.
“We’re doing a five-day period, we’ll see how that goes. If it goes well we’re going to end up with settling this. Otherwise, we just keep bombing our little hearts out.”
“We want to see no nuclear bomb, no nuclear weapon," said Trump, who started the war with Israel against Iran under the false pretext that Iran was developing nuclear weapons and was an imminent threat to the US.
Trump also said the US seeks “peace in the Middle East… and no enrichment.”
Mediators in the US-Iranian talks on the eve of the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran said Tehran had been open to accepting a five-year freeze on the enrichment of Uranium in return for the lifting the decades old Ameribcan and European sanctions on the country.
Earlier on Monday, in a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: "I am pleased to report that the United States of America, and the country of Iran, have had, over the last two days, very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East.”
He added: “Based on the tenor and tone of these in-depth, detailed, and constructive conversations, which will continue throughout the week, I have instructed the Department of War to postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions.”
Iran denies
Minutes after Trump's announcement, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard denied participating in any security talks with the United States, saying that the US President's claims of "productive talks with Tehran only reflect a crisis in the American position, following Iran’s continued strikes on its military presence in the region."
Later in the day, speaking to Tasnim on Monday, a senior security official said, "Trump has retreated in the face of credible military threats from Iran regarding attacks on critical infrastructure."
The source said, "Pressures from financial markets and threats to bonds within the US and the West have increased, describing it as another significant factor for Trump’s retreat."
"Since the beginning of the war until today, messages have been sent from several mediators to Tehran, with the clear response being that Iran will continue to defend itself until it achieves the necessary deterrence," the official stated.
"No negotiations are ongoing or have taken place, the source emphasized, adding that with the current state of psychological warfare, neither the Strait of Hormuz will revert to pre-war conditions, nor will there be stability in energy markets."
"Trump's five-day ultimatum means the continuation of the US regime's program of crimes against the Iranian people," the official warned.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that the United States has requested a meeting with Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, on Saturday, without mentioning any proposed venue.
The official, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the Supreme National Security Council had yet to decide on any proposed talks and Iran had yet to respond.
However, in a post on X on Monday, Speaker Ghalibaf wrote, "Iranian people demand complete and remorseful punishment of the aggressors. All Iranian officials stand firmly behind their supreme leader and people until this goal is achieved."
Growing human and economic cost
The US President's statements on talks with Iran come amid growing regional and international concerns that the 24-day-old US-Israeli war on Iran, and the Iranian retaliatory attacks on Arab Gulf neighbours, as well as the Israeli barbaric bombing of Lebanon, could spiral out of control and lead to a wider conflict.
Trump's stated readiness to making a deal with Iran marked a shift from his insistence all week that he was not interested in negotiating a ceasefire or an end to the war with Iran, as he declared victory on multiple occasions.
They also come amid growing regional and international outcry over the cost of the US-Israeli war on Iran in human losses and destruction across the region.
In Iran, round-the-clock Israeli bombing of the country has destroyed tens of thousands of residential and commercial units, oil depots, schools, clinics, factories, and hospitals, killing nearly 3,300 and wounding nearly 20,000.
The Iranian missile and drone attacks on various US-linked military bases and economic targets in Arab Gulf countries, including attacks on major energy hubs, have killed more than 35 people and rattled the whole region.
In Lebanon, the Israeli bombing campaign since 2 March has killed more than 1,030 people, destroyed whole villages, roads, and bridges, and displaced more than one million people.
Meanwhile, the Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which carries 20 percent of all oil and gas, to all ships linked with the US and Israeli war effort against the country, sent oil prices skyrocketing globally.
Regional mediation
For weeks now, Arab and regional powers have called on the US to stop the bombing of Iran and on Tehran to stop its attacks on its Gulf nations, to no avail.
However, in the past two days, Trump threat to expand the bombing of Iran to power plants and the Iranian counter-threats to retaliate against US and Israeli-linked power plants and water desalination plants across the region sent shock waves in Iran, the Arab Gulf, and across the Middle East.
On Monday, Axios reported that Egypt, Turkey, and Pakistan have been mediating talks between the US and Iran over the past two days.
Senior officials from the three countries held separate talks with Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, US sources told Axios.
"The mediation is ongoing and making progress. The discussion is about ending the war and resolving all outstanding issues. We hope to have answers soon," the source says.
In tandem, multiple nations have been passing messages between the United States and Iran over the last several days in an attempt to de-escalate the mounting tensions around energy sites and power plants, people familiar with the discussions told CNN.
Turkey and Egypt have both conveyed messages as part of the effort, the people said.
President Donald Trump’s foreign envoy Steve Witkoff, meanwhile, has heard from several officials in the region warning that Trump’s threat to target Iranian power plants would cause massive retaliation, including on American allies in the Gulf.
Regional officials have also been in contact with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to CNN.
Shortly before Donald Trump posted his Truth Social statement, Oman’s foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, who mediated the talks between US and Iran before Washington and Tel Aviv struck in the midst of talks, wrote on X that his country was “working intensively” to “put in place safe passage arrangements” for the Strait of Hormuz.
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