Trump Says 'Having Really Good Discussions' With Tehran, Iranian Speaker Flatly Junks Claims

Washington: United States President Donald Trump reiterated on Monday evening that Iran is back on the negotiating table which has prompted the US to temporarily postpone all strikes on major energy and electricity targets in the war-torn Middle Eastern country. Trump's presser comes hours after his Truth Social post announcing his five-day hold on strikes, even as Iran denied having any discussions with the US.

“Based on preliminary conversations between the United States and Iran over the past two days, I have directed the Department of War to temporarily postpone plans of strikes on major energy and electricity targets in Iran... To determine whether a broader agreement can be reached, we had very good discussions. My whole life has been a negotiation but we have been negotiating with Iran for a long time, and this time, they mean business. And it's only because the great job that our military did is the reason they mean business,” Trump said at a press conference on Monday.

The US president asserted that the discussion are aimed to ensure that Iran "never obtains a nuclear weapon," mentioning in a dig at the Democrats that the Iranians would have “had a nuclear weapon” if the Trump administration had allowed “Obama's Iran Nuclear Deal to stand.”

‘Really Good Discussions With Iran’

Trump insisted that Iran is having “really good discussion” with the Americans that started off on Sunday night and the middle-eastern country has even agreed to not having nuclear weapons.

“We are now having really good discussions. They started last night, a little bit the night before that. I think they're very good. They want peace. They've agreed they will not have a nuclear weapon, et cetera. But we'll see,” the US president said.

Expressing confidence that the US can strike a deal that can be beneficial to its West Asian allies, specifically its most important ally in the region, Israel, Trump said, “Hopefully, we can make a deal that's good for all of us, including the Middle Eastern allies that have been very good to us, including Israel, which has been a great partner in this fight. But we'll see what happens. I think there's a very good chance we're going to end up in a deal.”

‘Have Annihilated Iran's Defence’

Trump said that the US military has effectively “annihilated” Iran's defence wings as well as their leaders.

“We've annihilated their defence industrial base, eliminating their Navy. We eliminated their Air Force. We eliminated all of their air defence. Everything,” he said, adding, “We eliminated their leaders. We had the first set of leaders. They have gone...”

‘Nobody Wants To Be Iran’s Leader'

Taking a dig at the Iranian regime's selection of the new Ayatollah after Khamenei's death, through which they selected Mojtaba Khamenei, as the new Supreme Leader of the country, Trump said, “Then the second set, 88 people, met to pick a new leader. And they're now extinguished. And then they're meeting again. But now nobody wants to be the leader.”

In a crude joke at the Iranian leadership, Trump said, “It's one of the few political jobs that nobody wants anywhere in the world. Nobody wants it.  It's a very dangerous job. My job is dangerous, too, but their job is worse.” 

Trump asserted that the Americans are “systematically dismantling” the Iranian regime's ability to threaten America. “They're not threatening us anymore. As Commander-in-Chief, it's my sacred responsibility to protect our country from all threats,” he said.

No Official Word From Iran

Even after Trump's repeated assertions throughout the evening that Iran is back to talks, the Middle Eastern country that has choked the world's energy supply chain for weeks said that no such development has taken place.

Iran’s IRGC called Trump a “deceitful American president”, saying his “contradictory behaviour will not make us lose sight of the battlefront”.

Iranian Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf also denied talks between Iran and the US. “No negotiations have been held with the US, and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped,” he posted on X.

Iran demands “complete and remorseful punishment of the aggressors”, the speaker said in a second post.

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