President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States is “very close” to securing a new nuclear deal with Iran. He claimed that Tehran had “sort of” agreed to the terms and warned that diplomacy was the only way to avoid military action.
“We’re in very serious negotiations with Iran for long-term peace,” Trump said while speaking to Gulf business leaders during his visit to Qatar. “There are only two [ways]—intelligent and brutal. Those are the two alternatives,” he added. “I don’t want to do it the second way.”
Trump credited Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, for helping push forward a diplomatic resolution. “Iran is very lucky to have the emir because he’s actually fighting for them. He doesn’t want us to do a vicious blow to Iran,” Trump said, suggesting Iran “should say a big thank you” to Qatar’s ruler.
Behind the scenes, U.S. and Iranian officials have engaged in at least four rounds of quiet talks, most recently in Oman. While progress has been made, gaps remain.
A senior Iranian official familiar with the negotiations confirmed that while Iran is willing to reduce the level and volume of enriched uranium, the U.S. has not agreed to Tehran’s demand for major sanctions relief in return.
An adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ali Shamkhani, said publicly that Tehran would be willing to give up stockpiles of highly enriched uranium if Washington lifts sanctions. However, Trump administration sources say that further steps are needed to finalize the deal.
Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, publicly pushed back on Trump’s comments earlier this week, accusing the U.S. of fueling regional instability. “Trump thinks he can sanction and threaten us and then talk of human rights,” he said. “All the crimes and regional instability is caused by them.”
Despite Tehran’s insistence on continuing uranium enrichment—something U.S. officials have called a “red line”—there are signals that Iran may compromise by reducing enrichment levels and gradually exporting its stockpile.
Still, both sides are at odds over the timing and destination of the uranium handover, as well as the sequencing of sanctions relief.
The issue remains politically and economically sensitive. Trump’s remarks sparked a sharp drop in global oil prices, with Brent crude futures falling over 3% to below $64 a barrel. Iran, a major oil producer, remains under tight sanctions since Trump withdrew from the original 2015 nuclear accord.
Trump’s tone throughout his speech reflected his familiar stance: peace through strength, but readiness for confrontation if necessary. “We’d like to see if we could solve the Iran problem in an intelligent way, as opposed to a brutal way,” he said. “I think we’re getting close.”