US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that there have been “good talks" with Iran recently, adding that its leaders “badly" want a deal and have agreed not to have nuclear weapons.
“They want to make a deal badly. And we'll see if we get there. If we get there, they can’t have nuclear weapons. It's very simple," Trump told reporters in the White House.
He pointed out that Iran “had a Navy with 159 ships, and now every ship is blown to pieces and lying at the bottom of the water. They had an Air Force, lots of planes, and they don't have any planes. They don't have any anti-aircraft. They don't have any radar left. Their missiles are mostly decimated. They have some. They have probably 18, 19 percent, but not a lot by comparison to what they had. And their leaders are all dead. So I think we won."
“Now we have to get what we have to get. If we don't do that, we'll have to go a big step further. But with that being said, they want to make a deal. We've had very good talks over the last 44 hours, and it's very possible that we'll make a deal," said Trump.
He further stressed once again that “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. And they won't. And they've agreed to that, among other things."
The comments came hours after Trump issued an ultimatum to Iran, writing on his Truth Social platform, "Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption, the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end, and the highly effective Blockade will allow the Hormuz Strait to be OPEN TO ALL, including Iran."
He added a warning to Iran: "If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before."
Trump's ultimatum followed a report by Axios stating that the US and Iran are nearing a one-page agreement to end the war.
The deal, Axios said, reportedly involves a mutual lifting of restrictions around transit in the Strait of Hormuz, the US lifting sanctions and releasing frozen Iranian funds, and Iran agreeing to a "moratorium" on nuclear enrichment. Some of the sections would be contingent on a final agreement being reached.
On Tuesday night, Trump announced that “Project Freedom" in the Strait of Hormuz will be temporarily paused to allow for efforts to reach a deal with Iran.