(The Hill) — President Trump said Sunday that he is “not looking to kill people” while pursuing a diplomatic agreement with Iran, telling reporters that another round of negotiations with Iranian officials is scheduled for Monday.
Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump said Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar helped arrange the latest talks. He claimed the United States had prepared “an attack planned that would have been the biggest attack since World War II” against Iran before leaders from the Gulf nations urged Washington to give diplomacy another chance.
Asked about the possibility of a U.S. military response, Trump said the option remains available. “We’re ready to go any time we want,” he told reporters. But he added that he would prefer an agreement, saying, “Would I rather make a deal? I’m not looking to kill people. People die. A lot of people die and we don’t want that.”
Trump said Gulf leaders are strongly favoring a negotiated outcome, warning that a wider conflict could trigger a refugee crisis affecting neighboring states. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was among those pressing Trump to allow talks to move forward, speaking with him Saturday before the president said the parties had reached the “perimeters” of a potential deal.
The president also said there is no fixed deadline for what he called the “denuclearization of Iran,” referring to the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program.
An earlier interim agreement between the Trump administration and Iran focused on determining the future of Iran’s nuclear activities and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil passes. Trump has maintained that Iran posed an “imminent nuclear threat” at the start of the conflict, while Tehran has repeatedly said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the “perimeters” of the proposed agreement “include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.”
Since the United States and Israel began striking Iran in late February, 18 American service members have been killed. More than 3,600 Iranians have died in U.S. and Israeli attacks, according to the Human Rights Activist News Agency.
Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused gas prices to soar, with the national average for gas reaching $4.10, over $1 more than it cost just before the U.S. and Israel first launched strikes, according to AAA.
Trump has regularly announced that the U.S. and Iran are inching closer to a deal throughout the duration of the conflict. CNN reported early in June that Trump has suggested the war is close to an end 38 times.
