Trump says ongoing talks are Iran’s last chance at deal

President Donald Trump told reporters Monday afternoon that the latest round of negotiations with Iran marked the regime's last chance to broker a deal with the United States. The president stated that negotiations continued in two phases and, at Iran’s request, with the Strait of Hormuz as the first topic of discussion. The second phase would center on the denuclearization of Iran, Trump said.

In comments in the Oval Office on Monday, the president again said that the United States had prepared to carry out a large attack before Iran’s negotiators called at the very last minute to restart talks. The U.S. military was set to hit Iran harder than anyone’s been hit since World War II, before their negotiators called at the very last minute, Trump said Sunday night aboard Air Force One. Other Middle Eastern countries, Iran, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, also requested a restart of negotiations with him, he told reporters.

Trump released a statement hours earlier reporting that the United States held full control of the strait with its naval blockade. Nothing gets through the strait to Iran without the United States’ say-so until Iran brokers a deal or totally surrenders, he wrote. He also characterized Iranian leaders as dubious for asking for negotiations, then publicly denying their engagement in talks. Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, he added.

What are Iranian officials saying? In remarks published by a state news agency, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said that the United States, not Iran, broke the terms of an earlier memorandum of understanding for a peace agreement. Further negotiations were up to the United States, he said.