ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States and Iran have “sort of” agreed to terms on a nuclear deal, offering a measure of confidence that an accord is coming into sharper focus.
Trump, in an exchange with reporters at a business roundtable in Doha, Qatar, described talks between American envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as “very serious negotiations” for long-term peace and said they were continuing to progress.
Still, throughout his four-day visit to the Gulf this week, the president has underscored that military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities remains a possibility if the talks derail.
“Iran has sort of agreed to the terms: They’re not going to make, I call it, in a friendly way, nuclear dust,” Trump said at the business event. “We’re not going to be making any nuclear dust in Iran.”
Without offering detail, he signaled growing alignment with the terms that he has been seeking.
A top political, military and nuclear adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told NBC News on Wednesday that Tehran stands ready get rid of its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium that can be weaponized, agree to enrich uranium only to the lower levels needed for civilian use and allow international inspectors to supervise the process.
Ali Shamkhani added that in return, Iran wants an immediate lifting of all economic sanctions.
On Thursday, hours after Trump said the two sides were getting closer to a deal, Araghchi said Tehran’s ability to enrich uranium remained a core right of the Iranian people and a red line in nuclear talks.
“We have said repeatedly that defending Iran’s nuclear rights — including enrichment — is a fundamental principle,” the official said. “This is not something we concede, either in public discourse or in negotiations. It is a right that belongs to the Iranian people, and no one can take it away.”
Trump said his demands have been straightforward.
“They can’t have a nuclear weapon. That’s the only thing. It’s very simple,” Trump said. “It’s not like I have to give you 30 pages worth of details. It is only one sentence. They can’t have a nuclear weapon.”
But Trump on Wednesday suggested he was looking for Tehran to make other concessions as part of a potential agreement.
Iran “must stop sponsoring terror, halt its bloody proxy wars and permanently and verifiably cease pursuit of nuclear weapons,” Trump said in remarks at a meeting in Saudi Arabia, the first stop on the Mideast trip. “They cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
ORIGINAL ARTICLE CONTENT:
The Time Of Israel reported that US President Donald Trump says that a deal is maybe close on Iran’s nuclear program, voicing optimism at avoiding a military strike on Tehran’s sites.
“We’re not going to be making any nuclear dust in Iran,” Trump says after a meeting in Doha with business leaders. “I think we’re getting close to maybe doing a deal without having to do this.”
“So we’ll see what happens but we’re in very serious negotiations with Iran for long-term peace,” he says.
“Iran has sort of agreed to the terms,” he says. “We’re getting close to maybe doing a deal.”