Trump: ‘Deal Is Imminent’ — Iran Talks Restart Monday on Hormuz, Nukes

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President Donald Trump says a breakthrough deal with Iran is “imminent” — and the clock starts Monday afternoon.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One Sunday, Trump revealed the United States had been prepared to launch what he called “by far the biggest attack since World War II” before Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Iran urged him to hold off for diplomacy.

“We were all set to go, just about at this time right now, and it would have been a massive attack. But when the allies asked to call it off, you got to sort of say, ‘Well, let’s see.'”

Trump said negotiations with Tehran begin Monday afternoon over reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending Iran’s nuclear program — what Trump called the “denuclearization of Iran.”

“The deal is imminent” on the Strait of Hormuz and ultimately Iran’s denuclearization, Trump said, while acknowledging competing views among advisers about whether to strike.

Asked whether Iran faces a deadline, Trump said the United States remains ready to strike but prefers a diplomatic resolution.

“We’re ready to go any time we want,” Trump said. “Would I rather make a deal? I’m not looking to harm people. Because people are harmed. A lot of people are harmed. We don’t want that.”

Trump said Iran “very strongly” asked the United States to hold off and acknowledged Tehran could publicly dispute his account — which they quickly did.

“They said, ‘We’d like to make a deal,'” Trump said. “Now, you know, I don’t know what they said, because a lot of times they’ll say that to me, and then they’ll go out and say, ‘We don’t know what he’s talking about.’ Obviously, they don’t want to be attacked.”

Iranian state media Sunday denied that Tehran asked Trump to cancel the strikes. Iranian officials also disputed that an agreement had been reached to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump’s decision came after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged him to pursue diplomacy during a Saturday phone call. Trump said Sunday he asked the crown prince directly whether he preferred a U.S. attack or an agreement.

“I said, ‘What would you rather do? Would you rather have us do this or not?’ They said, ‘We would much prefer a deal as opposed to an attack, because you don’t know where these attacks lead.'”

Trump said the planned operation would have been “disastrous” for Iran.

“They didn’t want us to do it,” he said. “And frankly, Saudi Arabia didn’t want it either. They thought that a deal is imminent.”

The remarks came after Trump announced Saturday night that he had canceled the attack after saying the “perimeters” of a deal had been reached to immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end Iran’s nuclear threat. Trump said at the time that Israel had joined the United States in agreeing to hold off.

Diplomatic efforts over Hormuz appeared to continue Sunday. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said negotiations with Oman over the strategic waterway had entered their “final stages,” according to Iranian state media.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, however, said the talks with Oman did not mean Tehran had agreed to reopen the strait, insisting it would “under no circumstances” return to the arrangement that existed before the war began February 28.

A regional official involved in the mediation efforts told the Associated Press that the latest proposal would return Washington and Tehran to negotiations over reopening Hormuz and halting attacks across the region. In exchange, the United States would end its naval blockade of Iran and allow Tehran to resume oil exports under the terms of the earlier ceasefire framework, according to the official.

No final agreement has yet been reached, leaving Monday’s negotiations to determine whether Trump’s latest pause produces the breakthrough he said is now “imminent.”

Iran knows it’s negotiating from total weakness. And Trump knows it too.

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