WASHINGTON: The Trump Iran deal claim drew fresh attention Friday after President Donald Trump said Tehran wants an agreement as he weighs whether to order further U.S. military action.
In a September 18 phone interview with NewsNation, Trump said Iran currently wanted a deal. However, he added that Washington would consider only an agreement he regarded as acceptable.
Trump’s description does not match Tehran’s latest public position. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said earlier this week that Iran would not negotiate until its conditions were met.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry has also called for Washington to end sanctions and other measures before talks resume.
Read: Trump Says Iran Wants Deal, War Could End Around Midterms
Trump has separately said he is approaching a decision on whether to resume major attacks against Iran. He told Axios on September 17 that he wanted input from Gulf leaders before deciding his next step.
Read: Trump Iran War Prediction Says Conflict Will End Soon
The U.S. president also told NewsNation that Washington was talking with Yemen’s Houthi movement about a possible agreement.
Reuters independently reported that U.S. officials met Houthi representatives at the U.S. Embassy in Muscat, Oman, over the previous weekend. Five sources familiar with the meeting confirmed the contact, while two said Oman helped organise it.
Read: Houthi US Intervention: Trump Says Group Asked US to Stay Out
According to Reuters, Houthi representatives told U.S. officials they remained committed to their 2025 ceasefire with Washington and did not intend to attack American vessels. The State Department did not publicly confirm the meeting.
For Iran, the immediate diplomatic divide remains over the terms for restarting negotiations. Trump says Tehran wants a deal, while Iranian officials publicly maintain that Washington must first satisfy conditions tied to previous agreements.
