(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump, after postponing U.S. strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure citing new negotiations with Tehran, said on Monday that talks will continue and that there are “major points of agreement.”
“They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon, that’s number one,” Trump told reporters in Florida.
“That’s number one, two and three. They will never have a nuclear weapon,” the president said. “They’ve agreed to that,” he added.
According to Iranian state media, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Qalibaf said “no talks with the U.S. have taken place; reports claiming otherwise are fake news aimed at influencing financial and oil markets and distracting from the challenges facing the U.S. and Israel.”
Iran has previously committed not to build a nuclear weapon as part of negotiations with the West, yet continued to enrich nuclear material to levels nearing weapons grade.
Iran’s intent to build a nuclear weapon, according to Trump, was a central justification for the war.
This was despite the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that Iran was not pursuing a nuclear weapon in the wake of last summer’s Operation Midnight Hammer, which Trump said “obliterated” the country’s nuclear weapons program.
When asked on Monday how the U.S. would get Iran’s enriched uranium if these talks go well, Trump suggested Americans would go in to seize it. Experts previously told ABC News that a large American force on the ground would likely be needed to take the nuclear material, which is believed to be buried deep underground at facilities bombed by the U.S. last year.
“Very easy, if we have a deal with them, we’re going down and we’ll take it,” Trump said.
Trump also said he wanted to see a “very serious form of regime change” in Iran.
Over the weekend, Trump had issued an ultimatum to Iran to reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours or face major attacks on its power plants and other energy sites.
Trump changed course on Monday morning, announcing on social media that he ordered the Defense Department to postpone the strikes for five days following what he described as productive conversations about ending the war.
Iran’s foreign ministry denied talks with the U.S., Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency reported.
Trump told reporters that the U.S. is talking with a “top person” in Iran, but not the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.
The president did not offer specifics on who exactly the U.S. is negotiating with, only saying he is “a man who I believe is the most respected.” Just on Friday, Trump had said there was “nobody to talk to” after U.S. and Israeli strikes killed much of the Iranian leadership.
Steve Witkoff, White House special envoy, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, led the talks for the U.S., Trump said. The president added that the talks went “perfectly” and would continue by phone on Monday. He said that a meeting would take place “soon.”
“We’re doing a five-day period. We’ll see how that goes, and if it goes well, we’re going to end up with settling this, otherwise we just keep bombing our little hearts out,” Trump added.
Trump said there is a “very serious chance of making a deal,” but that he is not “guaranteeing anything.”
“All I’m saying is we are in the throes of a real possibility of making a deal,” he said. “And I think, if I were a betting man, I’d bet for it. But again, I’m not guaranteeing anything.”
Trump, when asked whether he believed Israel would abide by any peace deal, said that Israel would be “very happy.”
Trump’s pause on attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure prompted a positive reaction in the stock and oil markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared on Monday, and the price of oil dropped about 10% to about $90 a barrel.
Still, Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz remains in place.
When asked who will be in control of the strait after the conflict, Trump said it would be “jointly controlled.”
“Maybe me, me and the next ayatollah, whoever that is,” the president said.
Meanwhile, thousands more U.S. Marines and several Navy ships are heading to the Middle East, and the Pentagon is seeking $200 billion in supplemental funding.
When asked whether the administration would still request that $200 billion if these talks end the war, Trump replied, “It would be nice to have.”
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