President Donald Trump said that Iran “gave” the US most of the 15 demands it issued to Tehran to end the war, even as it remains unclear whether either side is negotiating.
“They gave us most of the points. Why wouldn’t they?” he told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday. “We’re going to be asking for a couple of other things.” He declined to specify what concessions Iran has offered.
Publicly, Iran has rejected the US’s 15-point list of ceasefire terms delivered by the Trump administration via intermediaries in Pakistan, and has countered with five conditions of its own – including maintaining sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier Sunday, however, Trump said he wanted to seize Iran’s oil resources, a move that would mark a major escalation in the conflict.
“To be honest with you, my favorite thing is to take the oil in Iran but some stupid people back in the US say: ‘Why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times.
Taking Iran’s oil would require a risky military operation involving the invasion and occupation of its main export hub, Kharg Island, which also houses an Iranian naval base.
Trump added that taking Kharg Island “would also mean we had to be there for a while.” The president has said the war would end “soon,” as the economic fallout risks spiraling into a political liability for his Republican Party ahead of the November midterm elections.
The US has sent dissonant messages about the next stages of the war. Trump has pushed for ceasefire talks with Iran even as the military ramps up forces in the region. The president said Sunday that negotiations don’t preclude further military action.
“We’re doing extremely well in that negotiation,” Trump said. “But you never know with Iran, because we negotiate with them, and then we always have to blow them up.”
Thousands of US troops amassed in the Middle East over the weekend, including an amphibious assault team that arrived on Saturday. Members of the 82nd Airborne are also on their way.
Officials from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey met over the weekend to find a path out of the conflict, but it’s unclear whether they made any progress.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said after the meeting with his counterparts that “both Iran and US have expressed their confidence in Pakistan” to host future talks, although neither side has indicated they are ready to meet.
Trump also suggested that the US has already achieved its goal of regime change. US strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the initial hours of the war. His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, has taken over for his father.
“We’re dealing with different people than anybody’s dealt with before,” Trump said. “It’s a whole different group of people. So I would consider that regime change. And frankly, they’ve been very reasonable.”
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