US President Donald Trump said he was less confident that Iran would agree to stop uranium enrichment in a nuclear deal with Washington, according to an interview released on Wednesday.
“I don’t know,” Trump told the “Pod Force One” podcast on Monday when asked if he thought he could get Iran to agree to shut down its nuclear program. “I don’t know. I did think so, and I’m getting more and more — less confident about it.”
His remarks came ahead of a planned sixth round of Iran-US nuclear talks.
Trump has been seeking a new nuclear deal to place limits on Iran’s nuclear activities and has threatened Tehran with bombing if no agreement is reached.
He told reporters at the White House on Monday that he had discussed Iran with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said talks with the Iranians were “tough.” Israel is insisting that any deal include the complete shutdown of Iranian enrichment of uranium.
In the podcast interview, Trump said Iranians seem to be using delaying tactics.
“I’m less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago. Something happened to them, but I am much less confident of a deal being made,” he said.
Trump repeated that the US would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, whether or not a deal is reached. “But it would be nicer to do it without warfare, without people dying, it’s so much nicer to do it. But I don’t think I see the same level of enthusiasm for them to make a deal,” he said.
In this March 30, 2005, file photo, an Iranian security official in protective clothing walks through part of the Uranium Conversion Facility just outside the city of Isfahan, Iran. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
Earlier this week, the US president said that Iran was becoming “much more aggressive” in nuclear talks.
Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh warned Wednesday that if the nuclear negotiations fail and conflict arises with the United States, Iran will strike American bases in the region.
“Some officials on the other side threaten conflict if negotiations don’t come to fruition. If a conflict is imposed on us… all US bases are within our reach and we will boldly target them in host countries,” Nasirzadeh said during a press conference.
Trump has repeatedly threatened Iran with bombing if it does not reach a new nuclear deal. On Tuesday, Gen. Michael Kurilla, the outgoing commander of the US Central Command, told American lawmakers that he had presented the White House with plans for a strike on Iran in case the nuclear talks fail.
The next round of talks is due this week, with Trump having said negotiations will be held on Thursday, while Tehran says they will take place on Sunday in Oman.
Iran is expected to hand a counter-proposal to a previous US offer for a nuclear deal it rejected.
Nasirzadeh added that Tehran recently tested a missile with a two-ton warhead and does not accept limitations. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had said in February that Iran should further develop its military, including its missiles.
This handout picture released by the Iranian Army Office on January 13, 2025 shows Iran’s Defence Minister Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh (R) speaking with Iran’s army commander-in-chief General Abdolrahim Mousavi during a delivering ceremony of drones, to Iran’s army by the country’s ministry of defense. (Iranian Army Office / AFP)
During a Tuesday hearing of the US House Armed Services Committee, the committee’s Republican chair, Representative Mike D. Rogers of Alabama, asked Kurilla whether CENTCOM would be “prepared to respond with overwhelming force to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran” if Trump orders such a strike.
“I have provided the secretary of defense and the president a wide range of options,” said Kurilla.
However, during a Monday phone call with Netanyahu, Trump ruled out an attack on Iran until he determines that the nuclear talks have failed, Channel 12 reported.
The network also cited two sources familiar with the phone call as saying Netanyahu did not receive a clear answer from Trump as to whether the US would give Israel a green light to act alone against Iran, or whether Washington would want to participate in or lead a strike.
Iran’s leaders, who are sworn to destroy Israel, have publicly denied seeking nuclear weapons, but have stocked up on 60%-enriched uranium — far above what is necessary for civilian uses, and a short step away from weapons-grade. US officials are reportedly concerned that Israel could strike Iran’s nuclear sites with little warning.
US Army Gen. Michael E. Kurilla, commander of US Central Command, testifies before the House Armed Services Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 21, 2024. (US Department of Defense/EJ Hersom via AP)
Netanyahu has demanded that any nuclear deal with Iran fully dismantle the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities and uranium enrichment sites. Speaking to reporters after the phone call on Monday, Trump said Washington would not allow Tehran to enrich uranium on its soil.
The US proposal for a nuclear deal would reportedly allow just that, though, for a temporary period of time.
Iran has in the past threatened US bases with strikes, including last year after it launched an unprecedented direct attack on Israel with hundreds of missiles and drones. The assault was almost entirely intercepted by Israeli air defense in cooperation with the US and its regional allies. In the wake of that attack, Iran threatened that if Israel retaliates, it could bomb US bases in the region. Israel did launch a limited strike in response, and Iran did not follow through on its threat, nor again later last year after it fired another massive barrage at Israel, which responded with more punishing strikes on Iran.
The exchanges between the two arch-foes came against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Gaza, which was triggered when the Iran-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas led an invasion of southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Some of Iran’s regional allies also attacked Israel in support of Gaza, leading to the direct confrontation.
Iran has directly attacked US bases as well. In January 2020, at the tail end of Trump’s first administration, it fired over a dozen surface-to-surface missiles at two Iraqi bases housing US troops. Though no one was killed, about 110 US service members were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries after the Iranian ballistic missile attack at al-Asad Air Base in Iraq on January 8 of that year.
The Iranian missiles came in retaliation for an American drone strike that killed top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
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