President Donald Trump said Wednesday during an event in Las Vegas that Iran sought negotiations after the U.S. prepared what he described as a massive military strike, arguing that sustained military pressure has brought Tehran back to the bargaining table.
Speaking to supporters, Trump said the U.S. was "set for the biggest attack since World War II" before Iranian officials reached out to request talks. "They called me and they said, 'Please don't do it, let's talk,'" Trump said.
Trump said he would prefer a diplomatic resolution over further military action but reiterated that the administration's position has not changed. "I'd rather make a deal because I don't want to kill people," he said. "But Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon."
The comments come as the Trump administration continues negotiations with Iran over reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said Tuesday that "a lot of progress" had been made and suggested a deal could be reached as soon as Wednesday or Thursday.
The administration has repeatedly said any agreement with Tehran must ensure Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon, a position Trump again underscored Wednesday as diplomatic efforts continue.
Fox News' Brittany Miller contributed to this report.
Fox News contributor Mike Pompeo reacted to President Donald Trump signaling that a potential U.S.-Iran deal is near on Thursday, cautioning that the regime in Tehran has a terrible record of following agreements.
Pompeo also discussed Vice President JD Vance's comments on oil prices and negotiations surrounding the Strait of Hormuz.
Retired Army Gen. Jack Keane questioned whether Pakistan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia can be trusted to help shape negotiations with Iran, accusing the regional partners of steering President Donald Trump away from military pressure while leaving the United States and Israel to bear the risks of confronting Tehran.
Keane, a Fox News senior strategic analyst and former Army vice chief of staff, said during a Monday appearance on Fox News’ "America’s Newsroom" that Pakistan and Qatar were "compromised" as mediators because, in his view, they favor Iran over the United States.
"It is well known in the Middle East region, by our intelligence services, by all the players, that the Pakistanis and the Qataris are compromised because they favor Iran at the expense of the United States," Keane said. "This is historical. This is not new."
Keane’s criticism contrasts with Trump’s public praise for Islamabad.
Trump said April 26 during a phone interview with Fox News that he had "great respect for Pakistan" because its officials had "been terrific" and "really tried" to advance negotiations with Iran. He added that Pakistan would remain involved in the process.
While speaking to reporters after the G7 summit in France on June 18, Trump also credited Pakistan and Qatar with helping advance the negotiations that produced the U.S.–Iran memorandum of understanding.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Efrat Lachter.
{{#rendered}}Fox News' Trey Yingst reported the latest on the Iran conflict from Tel Aviv on Thursday, with President Donald Trump addressing reports that the U.S. is running low on missile stockpiles.
Hudson Institute senior fellow Rebeccah Heinrichs also joined "Fox & Friends First" to discuss the latest on the effort to secure a U.S.-Iran deal.
This is an excerpt from an opinion article by Hudson Institute senior fellow Ludovic Hood.
The United States finds itself in a protracted standoff with the Islamic Republic of Iran – which, in many respects, it has been in for decades. The difference this time is the opportunity to do lasting damage to the regime’s pursuit of regional domination and end its 47-year-old assault on core U.S. national interests.
In the past few weeks, President Donald Trump has rightly opted for a policy of exerting economic pain on the regime and its sources of funding. The Treasury Department has unveiled a slew of strident measures to further squeeze Iran’s access to revenues from oil sales.
These measures include sanctions targeting Chinese, Indian and other third-country oil brokers and tanker operators. Treasury has also gone after operators behind Iran’s "shadow fleet" and illicit Iranian financial networks.
America’s economic pressure on the regime is backed up by the U.S. Navy’s blockade of Iranian ports, involving over 20 warships and hundreds of military aircraft, and costing Iran tens of millions of dollars every day.
Crucially, this "maximum pressure" strategy is underpinned by the use of tactical yet large-scale air strikes and other military measures designed to do additional damage to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other military targets across Iran. Its goal is to keep the regime in Tehran on its back heels while intermediaries (such as the Pakistani and Qatari governments) pursue efforts to reach a deal on a sustainable cessation of hostilities.
This diplomacy is a necessary part of the standoff that has pulled in Iran’s neighbors, many of whom are still reeling from the shock of being attacked by Iranian ballistic missiles and drones.
However, based on the regime’s defiance and unwillingness to open the Strait of Hormuz in June and July – even after Trump agreed to a ceasefire under a "memorandum of understanding" that was widely considered to be quite advantageous to Iran – it is unlikely that diplomacy will succeed in achieving a lasting end to the conflict.
The IRGC generals now running Iran will almost certainly violate both the terms and the spirit of any agreement or understanding – as Iran did in a variety of ways in the years following the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Iran’s top Revolutionary Guard commander declared Wednesday that Tehran would continue working on nuclear weapons as long as the United States and Israel possess them, intensifying concerns that Iran is using negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz to postpone concessions on its nuclear program.
"As long as the United States and Israel possess nuclear weapons, we will continue working on them for our national security," IRGC commander-in-chief Ahmad Vahidi said, according to a translation of remarks circulating Wednesday. "If they disarm, we will disarm."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by vowing that Israel would continue preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, with or without a diplomatic agreement.
"Today, we heard the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Vahidi, explicitly declare Iran’s intention to continue developing nuclear weapons — ‘continue,’ as he put it," Netanyahu said at a ceremony marking the reinterment of Shimon and Rivka Herzl, the grandparents of the founder of modern day Zionism, Theodor Herzl.
"Well, as prime minister of Israel, I too am determined to continue — to continue preventing Iran from possessing nuclear weapons," he said.
Netanyahu praised President Donald Trump as Israel’s greatest friend in the White House and expressed appreciation for the two countries’ joint efforts against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
"Israel’s existence is not subject to negotiation," Netanyahu said. "With an agreement or without an agreement, I am determined — we are all determined — to do whatever is necessary to ensure our security and our future."
The exchange came as nuclear experts urged Trump to keep Iran’s nuclear program at the center of negotiations, warning that Tehran could use the Hormuz crisis to secure sanctions relief and other concessions before addressing its remaining nuclear capabilities.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Efrat Lachter.
{{#rendered}}The U.S. and Iran both say they are nearing the end of negotiations on a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but both sides have asserted contradictory power over the region.
President Donald Trump's blockade on Iranian ports remains in effect, and its removal may be the key to any deal with Iran. Tehran, however, has asserted that the strait will never again return to its pre-war status, implying that it expects further power over the waterway.
Iran says it is in the "final stages" of negotiating a deal with Oman to reopen the Strait, and the Trump administration has also said a deal is nearing completion.
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