Negotiations under way with Iran, says Trump; hints at major energy concession
Trump also claimed US military dominance, saying forces were operating over Tehran and Iran’s air defences had been neutralised
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Washington is engaged in active negotiations with Iran, even as he made a series of striking claims about recent developments, including what he described as a “very big” oil- and gas-related concession from Tehran.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said, “We are in negotiations right now… the other side would like to make a deal,” adding that multiple senior officials, including Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance, were involved in the process.
In an unusual remark, Trump referred to a “present” allegedly given by Iran. “They did something yesterday that was amazing. They gave us a present… a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money. I’m not going to tell you what that present is, but it was oil and gas related,” he said, without elaborating.
The US President asserted that Washington was “talking to the right people”, even as he claimed that Iran’s leadership structure had been significantly weakened.
“Their leaders are all gone. Nobody knows who to talk to. But we’re actually dealing with the right people, and they want to make a deal so badly,” he said.
Trump also indicated that a planned US strike on a major Iranian power facility had been called off due to ongoing talks.
“Today we were going to have the privilege of hitting a very big electric generation plant… we held off based on the fact that we are negotiating,” he said.
At the same time, Trump projected US military dominance, claiming that American forces were operating freely over Tehran and that much of Iran’s air defence and missile capability had been neutralised.
He further said Iran had agreed not to pursue nuclear weapons, though there has been no independent confirmation of such an understanding.
While Trump’s remarks suggest momentum towards a possible deal, there has been no official confirmation from Tehran, and questions remain over the scope and credibility of the negotiations.
