Trump says US will 'probably' reach deal with Iran
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that its Mideast arch-foe Iran was seeking to reach a deal and that his administration would "probably" achieve one.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that its Mideast arch-foe Iran was seeking to reach a deal and that his administration would "probably" achieve one.
In his address to a US-Saudi business forum in Washington DC with visiting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in attendance, Trump said US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June had protected Riyadh.
"We took the Dark Cloud away from your country, it was called Iran and its nuclear capability, and we obliterated that very quickly and strongly and powerfully.
But that was a real cloud over the whole Middle East," he said.
"Now they want to make a deal. They want to make a deal. They want to see if they can work out a deal with us, and we'll be doing that probably. But that was a terrible cloud that you had to live with for a long time."
At a joint appearance in the White House on Tuesday, Trump said the United States was talking to Tehran, which he said "very badly” wanted a deal with Washington.
Tehran flatly denied any such talks were underway earlier on Wednesday.
“There is no process of negotiation between Iran and the United States,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran.
“Talking to a side that does not believe in mutual respect and takes pride in military aggression against Iran has no logical justification.”
Iran has denied seeking a nuclear weapon and has rejected US demands that it end domestic enrichment, rein in its missile program and cut off help for its armed Mideast allies.
The impasse over the disputed program festers despite Trump's assertion that the US attacks had "obliterated" it.
