Trump Says U.S., Iran Holding 'Good Talks'

ABC News

U.S. President Donald Trump.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States was having "good talks" with Iran and there was a chance of a deal over their conflict, but ‌warned U.S. strikes would resume if the negotiations failed to deliver.

Washington abruptly suspended a two-week campaign of air strikes against Iran on Saturday in the president's latest strategic U-turn in the five-month-old conflict.

"We're talking right now," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. "We're having good talks... I think there's a good chance that something could happen, and if it does, good, if it doesn't, we go back to doing what we were doing two days ago."

However, Tehran appeared to quickly test the pause in the U.S. military campaign, with Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq reporting drone attacks on Monday.

Saudi Arabia said it shot down drones aimed at petroleum targets, including in the capital Riyadh. It said the drones had been launched from Iraq by Iran-backed armed groups, and it reserved the right to ⁠respond.

Separately, Iran's Houthi allies in Yemen said they had targeted the 1,200-km East-West Pipeline carrying oil to Saudi Arabia's main Red Sea port of Yanbu, in retaliation for what they said were Saudi drone incursions into Yemeni airspace.

Iran has said it is not seeking to resume peace talks with the U.S., although it would pause its own attacks for as long as Trump's self-imposed ceasefire continues. Tehran also said it was still in control of the contested Strait of Hormuz, the key waterway for global energy supplies, which Trump has demanded vessels be able to pass through freely.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, said on Sunday that Trump had paused the campaign to allow room for negotiations. Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other U.S. officials have described Iran as "begging for a deal".

But Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in a televised press conference on Monday that Iran had not asked to resume peace talks with the United States.

Messages were still being passed between the sides through mediators and Iran had not forsaken diplomacy, but "reports about Iran requesting negotiations with the U.S. are fabricated," Baghaei said. "This is not in our DNA."

The United States launched a renewed bombing campaign against Iran after Tehran targeted commercial vessels using a maritime route promoted by Washington, which had advised ships to sail close to Oman's coastline.

Iran maintains that vessels should transit through a designated channel in the Strait of Hormuz that runs closer to its own coastline, where it says it exercises control and intends to impose transit fees.

In June, Washington and Tehran agreed on a framework for negotiations aimed at resolving key issues, including Iran's nuclear programme, with talks scheduled to take place by the end of August.

However, the two sides have since disagreed over the interpretation of the memorandum's provisions concerning the Strait of Hormuz. Washington insists the agreement requires Iran to guarantee freedom of navigation, while Tehran argues that it gives the country the authority to regulate and supervise maritime transit through the strategic waterway.



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