Trump says Iran wants to ‘make a deal’ as it continues to strike Israel and gulf nations

WASHINGTON- President Trump said Tuesday that Iran wants to “make a deal” with the United States to end the war in the Middle East, saying negotiations are ongoing as the conflict enters its fourth week.

Iran has publicly denied the existence of talks. But Trump told reporters at an Oval Office event that negotiations were underway and led by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“I would like to think we are in a good negotiating position,” Trump said.

Trump said he remained skeptical of Tehran’s intentions, saying he didn’t “necessarily trust them” but indicated he was encouraged to continue negotiations after receiving what he described as “a very large gift of enormous value” from Iran.

“I’m not going to tell you what the present is,” Trump told reporters. But he said it was a “big prize” linked to “oil and gas” which meant he was “dealing with the right people”.

Mixed messages over diplomatic efforts between Washington and Tehran come as Pakistan offered to host peace talks in Islamabad aimed at ending hostilities, which have killed more than 2,400 people, further destabilized the Middle East and disrupted global oil markets.

“Pakistan fully welcomes and supports the ongoing efforts to continue the dialogue aimed at ending the war in the Middle East, in the interest of peace and stability in the region and beyond,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote on X.

Any potential negotiations between the United States and Iran would face significant challenges. Key U.S. demands – particularly related to Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs – remain difficult to meet, even though Trump says Iran has already agreed to concessions related to its ability to possess nuclear weapons.

It is also unclear who among Iran’s leaders would be willing to negotiate, especially since Israel has promised to continue targeting Iranian leaders after already killing several.

Trump has not publicly responded to Pakistan’s offer to serve as an intermediary between the United States and Iran. He also sidestepped a question about a New York Times report that said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was pushing him to continue the war against Iran.

Instead, the president expressed confidence in his top advisers handling Iran negotiations. He did not specify who U.S. officials are talking to, but insisted they are “talking to the right people.”

When asked by a reporter why he agreed to a ceasefire with the Iranians, Trump responded: “They talk to us and they make sense. »

As negotiations continue, Trump said the United States is “way ahead of schedule” in its war against Iran, a nation he said was so battered it had no choice but to come to the negotiating table. Iran, however, showed Tuesday that it still has its firepower by firing a new wave of missiles at Israel, Iraq and other Gulf countries.

Iran has fired at least 10 waves of missiles at Israel. In Tel Aviv, a missile with a 220-pound warhead slammed into a downtown street, blowing out the windows of a building and causing smoke. Four people were slightly injured, rescuer Yoel Moshe said.

In Kuwait, power lines were hit by shrapnel from air defense shells, causing partial power outages for several hours. Bahrain said it had been attacked with missiles and drones and that an Emirati soldier serving with its forces had been killed. The United Arab Emirates said its air defense systems responded to similar attacks, and Saudi Arabia said it destroyed Iranian drones targeting its oil-rich eastern province.

Israel shelled Beirut’s southern suburbs, saying it was targeting infrastructure used by the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group, and carried out a wide series of strikes on Iranian “production sites”, without providing further information.

On Tuesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel intended to seize southern Lebanon to create a “security zone.”

Speaking at an assessment meeting with Israel’s army chief of staff, Katz said the army would control all the way to the Litani River, a waterway that runs through southern Lebanon and joins the Mediterranean about 20 miles north of the border with Israel.

“Hundreds of thousands of southern Lebanon residents who were evacuated to the north will not return south of the Litani River until the safety of northern residents is ensured. [of Israel] is assured,” he said.

His words constitute the clearest expression yet of Israel’s plans in Lebanon, going well beyond the “limited and targeted ground operations” announced by the Israeli military earlier this month.

Lebanon, meanwhile, has taken steps to undermine Tehran’s influence in the country and its support for Hezbollah. In a statement published on X on Tuesday, Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi said the government was expelling Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Reza Shibani and declared him persona non grata. He gave Shibani until Sunday to leave the country.

Hezbollah condemned the decision and called it a “serious national and strategic error.” Political figures close to the group also issued public statements calling on the Iranian ambassador to ignore the decision.

In Washington, Trump said he would like to find a solution that would prevent further casualties and damage to the region’s critical infrastructure.

“If we can end this without losing more lives, without destroying brand new $10 billion power plants, I would love to be able to do that,” he said. “But they can’t have certain things.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters he preferred to “negotiate with bombs.”

“The president has made it clear that you will not have a nuclear weapon. The War Department agrees,” Hegseth said. “Our job is to ensure that, and so we keep our hand on that lever, as long and as hard as necessary to ensure that the interests of the United States of America are respected on this battlefield.”

His comments came as thousands of US Marines were en route to the region, raising speculation that the US could attempt to seize Kharg Island, which is vital to Iran’s oil network. The United States bombed the Persian Gulf island more than a week ago, hitting its defenses but claiming to have left its oil infrastructure intact.

The Pentagon declined to comment on the deployment.

Ceballos and Quinton reported from Washington. Nabih Bulos, editor of The Times in Beirut, contributed to this report.