President Trump has played this hand before during the 5-month-old Iran war — but this time, he insists it's different. The president on Monday said that new talks between Washington and Tehran are the "last chance" for Iran to forge a deal and avoid an escalation of US strikes on the country, the AP reports. Trump, speaking at the Oval Office, said he expects negotiations will focus on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and create a pathway for Iran to address the United States' concerns about its nuclear program. "The first phase is the opening of the straits. The second phase will be the denuclearization," the president said. "And that will take a little while."
Trump said he decided to hold off on ordering American forces to carry out new massive strikes against Iran at the urging of Gulf allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. He said a plan was in place for US forces to carry out "the biggest attack since World War II on Sunday, but he decided to scrap the plan and give diplomacy more time to play out after hearing from key Gulf leaders. But Trump reiterated that he's running out of patience with Iran. "This the last chance for them to sign a good document," Trump said.
- Earlier Monday, Trump had criticized Iran on social media as being "unbelievably duplicitous." His ire was raised by Iran claiming that its meetings with Oman on Monday were focused solely on establishing a temporary route for safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for the global oil trade.
- "They ask for a meeting, some would say 'beg' talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they're not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about, and they're only dealing with Oman," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
- Asked about the state of negotiations, Trump said they "are going on right now," Reuters reports. Earlier Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said talks were not taking place and none were scheduled in the coming days.
Trump has threatened to escalate attacks on Iran only to edge away from his threats several times since the start of US and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28. Asked by a reporter how Americans view him repeatedly making grim threats on Tehran before backing away, Trump responded that he's showing patience out of a consideration for Iranian life. "I want to give them every last chance before decapitation," Trump said. He added, "Hopefully, they'll come to their senses."
- Critics say Trump's hesitation also might reflect an unspoken understanding inside the administration that US military might alone may not be enough to compel Iran to back down and bring an end to a now monthslong war that Trump had earlier downplayed as a weekslong "excursion." "I think what we're seeing here is a president who has an approach that's just rather erratic," Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on CBS News' Face the Nation. "At this point, he's trying to get us back to February. And I think if he could—if he had a big reset button he could hit—he would certainly take that option."
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