From gunboat to diplomacy: Trump pushes for Iran nuclear deal

US President Donald Trump said he anticipated talks with Iran over a new nuclear deal in the coming days, building on a flurry of diplomatic activity aimed at averting war between the two countries.

"We have ships heading to Iran right now, big ones, biggest and the best, and we have talks going on with Iran," Trump told reporters Mondayin the Oval Office.

"If we can work something out that'd be great, and if we can't, probably bad things would happen," he continued.


Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered the start of negotiations with Washington "within the framework of the nuclear issue," Iran's semi-official Fars news service reported Monday, citing a government source. Talks could include senior officials from both countries such as US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the Tasnim news service said, citing a source it didn't identify.

"We're ready for diplomacy, but they must understand that diplomacy isnot compatible with threats, intimidation or pressure," Araghchi said onstate TV. "We will remain steadfast on this path and hope to see its results soon."

Multiple countries in the Middle East have been acting as intermediaries between Tehran and Washington, according to Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry.

No time or locationfor an initial meeting has been set, Tasnim said, while details of what would be discussed remain unclear, such as whether the US would push forthe Islamic Republic to end uranium enrichment.

Iran's priority in new talks will be sanctions relief and Tehran is "realistic" in its approach, Baghaei said.

The developments underline the international effort to ease Middle East tensions as Trump threatens Iran with military action if it doesn'treach an agreement to curb its nuclear program. American naval assets have been dispatched toward the region and Trump said Sunday they were "a couple of days" away, even while unspecified Gulf allies negotiate to "make a deal."

Oil prices fell sharply on Monday, partly because of the heightened diplomatic maneuvers, with Brent dropping around 4% to $66.50 a barrel.Prices are still up roughly 8.5% this year because of the still-high chances of a conflict in the oil-rich region.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned Sunday of a "regional war" if his country is attacked. Tehran has previously threatened to retaliate with strikes on Israel and US bases in the region, as it has in response to previous assaults.

Diplomatic Push
Trump last month threatened to strike Iran over the authorities' deadly crackdown on protests against poor living standards, which later hadspread into an uprising against Khamenei's regime. More than 6,800 people were killed in the unrest, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency has reported, with many thousands more cases under review.