US President Donald Trump said Iran wants to reach an agreement with the United States and that Washington will wait to see whether it does, according to BBC News Arabic. Trump said: “They want to make a deal, and we will see whether they reach it.”
Trump made his remarks to reporters at his residence in Florida. He declined to say whether the United States would resume military operations against Iran early this week. Asked about this, he said: “I’m not going to tell you that.”
Trump said the United States had crippled Iran’s nuclear capability and destroyed a large part of its military capabilities. He added: “We’ve knocked out their nuclear capability, but we still have to deal with a site or two, and we can do that in just 10 minutes.” He pointed to the Pickaxe Mountain site, saying: “You can look at the Pickaxe Mountain site, and we have to deal with it. We can get the whole thing done very quickly.”
On the diplomatic track, Iranian negotiators met Qatari mediators in Doha on Saturday as part of efforts to avoid a resumption of military confrontation. Qatar and Pakistan are mediating between the two sides. The efforts have not yet produced a lasting agreement to end hostilities.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that Trump had not yet decided whether to resume military operations against Iran. He said he did not know whether the talks led by Qatar have a specific timeframe.
For its part, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei directed the armed forces to respond immediately and effectively to any threat, without geographical restrictions. His directive said the forces should respond “immediately and effectively to any threat, without geographical restrictions.” He said Iran would itself determine the timing and conditions for ending any new attacks or operations against it.
Khamenei also ordered “the updating of the military target list to include various American and Israeli assets, both tangible and intangible.” The Iranian army warned that any new US attack would widen the war geographically. Chief of Staff Ali Abdollahi confirmed that new targets and facilities would be added to the target list.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said there are currently no plans to meet US officials directly. He said Iran had received a message from US Vice President JD Vance and had discussed it in high-level meetings. He described Washington’s efforts to open the door to dialogue as “a positive step.”
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty warned that any new escalation could lead to further destruction and serious repercussions. He said the next round would be more dangerous and more destructive.