They wanna talk: Trump signals no further strikes on Iran, may lift sanctions

US President Donald Trump on Monday signalled a possible de-escalation in hostilities with Iran, saying he hoped America would not have to launch another strike against the Islamic Republic.

“I hope we are not going to have to do that. I can’t imagine wanting to do that. I can’t imagine them wanting to do that. They want to meet. They want to work something out. They are very different now than they were two weeks ago,” Trump told reporters when asked if more military action was on the table.

His comments came just weeks after US B-52 bombers carried out precision strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities at Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan in coordination with Israel, in a bid to cripple Tehran’s alleged nuclear weapons programme.

Trump, speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also expressed his willingness to roll back harsh US sanctions on Iran “at the right time”, saying he would like to give Tehran a chance to rebuild “in a peaceful manner” instead of fuelling anti-US and anti-Israel rhetoric.

“I would love to be able to, at the right time, take those sanctions off, give them a chance at rebuilding, because I would like to see Iran build itself back up in a peaceful manner, and not going around saying, ‘death to America,’ ‘death to the USA’, ‘death to Israel’, as they were doing,” the US President said.

Trump has suggested once again that Iranian officials have reached out to resume negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Talks, which initially began in April, fell through after Israel launched its recent operations in the region.

“We have scheduled Iran talks, and they want to,” Trump told reporters, adding that Iranian officials were keen to return to the table. He had earlier said the stalled discussions would resume shortly. Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who was present alongside him, indicated that the meeting could happen as early as next week.

However, Iranian authorities have not yet confirmed any agreement to restart talks with Washington.

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