President Donald Trump said Iran appears eager to negotiate with the US amid a growing military buildup in the Middle East.
In an interview on Monday with Axios, Trump suggested that Tehran had reached out on “numerous occasions” and “necessity”[s] to make a deal.”
“They want to make a deal. I know that. They have called repeatedly. They want to talk,” the president told the newspaper.
According to US officials, also cited from AxiosAny potential deal would require Tehran to remove all enriched uranium, limits its stockpile of long-range missiles, a change in support for regional proxy forces, and an end to independent uranium enrichment, terms that Iran’s leaders have not agreed to.
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The USS Abraham Lincoln has arrived in the Middle East amid tensions with Iran. (M. Jeremy Yoder/U.S. Navy via Getty Images)
Trump also described the situation with Iran as “in flux” and pointed to the arrival of what he called “a great armada alongside Iran.” Bigger than Venezuela,” referring to the recent deployment of US naval assets.
“We have a big fleet going that way, and we’ll see what happens,” Trump said of Iran. (Majid Saeedi/Getty Images; Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Trump had told reporters on January 21: “We have a large fleet heading that way, and we’ll see what happens. We have a large force heading toward Iran. I’d rather not see anything happen, but we’re watching them closely.”
The US military buildup comes amid widespread unrest in Iran following protests that began on December 28.
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The confirmed death toll from mass protests in Iran has reportedly reached 5,848, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). (MAHSA / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)
According to a recent report from Press agency for human rights activists (HRANA) the confirmed death toll from the protests has reached 5,848, with a further 17,091 deaths under investigation.
According to Iran International, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is hiding in a fortified underground facility.
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Trump is expected to hold further consultations this week, Axios said, before adding that White House officials said an attack is still on the table.
