President Donald Trump said Iran “badly” wants a deal and has agreed not to pursue nuclear weapons as Tehran was expected Thursday to respond to an emerging U.S.-backed framework proposal aimed at ending the conflict and launching broader negotiations over the regime’s nuclear program.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, Trump struck an optimistic tone regarding the negotiations while repeatedly warning that military action would intensify if Tehran ultimately rejected the terms being discussed.
“They want to make a deal badly. And we’ll see if we get there. If we get there, they can’t have nuclear weapons. It’s very simple,” Trump said.
Trump also pointed once again to the immense damage inflicted on Iran’s military, nuclear, ballistic missile, drone, naval, and broader military-industrial infrastructure during Operation Epic Fury, the U.S.-Israeli campaign launched against the regime on February 28.
“They had a Navy with 159 ships, and now every ship is blown to pieces and lying at the bottom of the water. They had an Air Force, lots of planes, and they don’t have any planes. They don’t have any anti-aircraft. They don’t have any radar left. Their missiles are mostly decimated,” Trump said.
“And their leaders are all dead. So I think we won.”
Trump added that the United States and Iran had held “very good talks” over the last 24 to 48 hours and suggested a deal could potentially be finalized within roughly a week.
“Now we have to get what we have to get. If we don’t do that, we’ll have to go a big step further,” Trump said. “But with that being said, they want to make a deal. We’ve had very good talks over the last 24 hours, and it’s very possible that we’ll make a deal.”
Fox News host Bret Baier later said Trump told him directly during a phone conversation Wednesday that the administration was “cautiously optimistic” and believed an agreement could potentially be wrapped up “within a week.”
CNN reported Wednesday night that Iran was expected to provide mediators with its formal response to the emerging U.S. proposal on Thursday.
According to multiple reports throughout the day, the Trump administration and Iranian negotiators have been working toward a one-page memorandum of understanding intended to establish a framework for broader negotiations over the regime’s nuclear program, sanctions relief, and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Axios first reported Wednesday morning that the administration expected a response from Tehran within 48 hours regarding the proposed 14-point framework.
Among the provisions reportedly under discussion are a temporary moratorium on uranium enrichment, the removal of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, expanded inspections, gradual sanctions relief, and phased restoration of commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump later confirmed one of the proposal’s most significant reported provisions during a phone interview with PBS News when asked whether Iran’s highly enriched uranium would potentially be transferred to the United States.
“No, not perhaps. It goes to the United States,” Trump replied emphatically.
Trump also appeared to confirm reports that the proposal would require Iran not to operate underground nuclear facilities.
“Correct, yeah,” Trump said when asked whether such a provision was part of the emerging framework.
The president repeatedly emphasized throughout the day that while progress had been made, no final agreement had yet been reached.
“I think it’s got a very good chance of ending, and if it doesn’t end, we have to go back to bombing the hell out of them,” Trump told PBS.
“If they agree, it’s over, and if they don’t agree, we bomb.”
Speaking later Wednesday during a tele-rally for Georgia Republican gubernatorial candidate Burt Jones, Trump predicted the conflict would ultimately conclude quickly.
“When you look at the kind of things that are happening, we are doing that for one very important reason: We cannot allow them to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.
“So I think most people understand that. They understand that what we are doing is right, and it’ll be over quickly.”
Trump separately insisted Wednesday evening that there was “never a deadline” for negotiations, despite earlier comments suggesting a potential one-week timeframe for finalizing an agreement.
“It’ll happen, but never a deadline,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
The remarks came one day after Trump abruptly paused Project Freedom, the U.S. military operation launched Monday to help move stranded commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz after more than two months of severe Iranian disruption, harassment, threats, attacks, and de facto blockade conditions that stranded thousands of mariners and severely disrupted global shipping traffic.
Trump announced Tuesday night that the operation would be paused “for a short period of time” at the request of Pakistan and other countries “to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed.”
Trump wrote on Truth Social that Project Freedom would be paused temporarily at the request of Pakistan and other countries amid what he described as “Great Progress” toward a “Complete and Final Agreement” with Iranian representatives, while stressing that the U.S. blockade would remain “in full force and effect.”
Trump escalated the pressure Wednesday morning by warning Tehran that renewed military action would follow if negotiations collapsed.
“If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before,” Trump wrote.
Earlier Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that Operation Epic Fury had achieved its objectives and concluded while stressing that any diplomatic track moving forward remained “highly complex and highly technical.”
“We have to have a diplomatic solution that is very clear about the topics that they are willing to negotiate on and the extent of the concessions they are willing to make at the front end in order to make those talks worthwhile,” Rubio said.
Rubio also questioned whether Iran’s more hardline theological leadership would ultimately accept a deal, describing elements of the regime as driven by what he previously called an “apocalyptic vision.”
Iranian officials delivered sharply mixed public signals Wednesday regarding the emerging proposal.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei confirmed Tehran was reviewing the U.S. proposal but sharply criticized Washington’s negotiating posture.
“The concept of ‘negotiations’ requires, at the very least, a genuine attempt to engage in discussions with a view to resolving the dispute,” Baqaei wrote on X. “It needs ‘good faith’ — meaning that ‘negotiations’ is not ‘disputation’; nor is it ‘dictation’, ‘deception’, ‘extortion’, or ‘coercion’.”
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi — one of Tehran’s lead negotiators — insisted during meetings Wednesday in Beijing with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that Iran would only accept what he described as a “fair and comprehensive agreement.”
“We will do our best to protect our legitimate rights and interests in the negotiations,” Araghchi said.
Iranian Parliament National Security Committee spokesman Ebrahim Rezaei dismissed reports of an imminent breakthrough as “more of an American wish list than a reality.”
“The Americans will not gain anything in a war they are losing that they have not gained in face-to-face negotiations,” Rezaei wrote.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has also emerged as one of the regime’s central negotiating figures, mocked the talks.
“Operation Trust Me Bro failed. Now back to routine with Operation Fauxios,” Ghalibaf wrote on social media, appearing to reference both Project Freedom and Axios reporting regarding the emerging framework proposal.
Still, regional officials and multiple media reports expressed growing optimism Wednesday that Washington and Tehran were nearing at least a preliminary framework agreement.
A Pakistani source involved in mediation efforts told Reuters: “We will close this very soon. We are getting close.”
In remarks published Thursday by the Arabic outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said there was a “high probability” the United States and Iran would ultimately reach an agreement, though he stressed that any arrangement must protect broader regional interests and rejected using the Strait of Hormuz as a bargaining chip.
ABC News reported Wednesday night that Iranian and American negotiators had exchanged multiple drafts of the memorandum in recent days and that administration officials believed Iran was showing increased flexibility regarding key nuclear provisions.
Channel 12 in Israel later reported that American officials had conveyed growing optimism to Jerusalem, including what the network described as “surprising openness” from parts of the Iranian leadership regarding the transfer of the regime’s enriched uranium stockpile overseas.
The report added that both Israel and the United States remained concerned that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps could still attempt to derail any agreement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moved publicly Wednesday to project unity with the Trump administration amid reports Israel had concerns regarding aspects of the proposal.
“There is full coordination between us — no surprises,” Netanyahu said ahead of a security cabinet meeting.
“We share common goals, and the most important goal is the removal of the enriched material from Iran — all of the enriched material — and the dismantling of Iran’s enrichment capabilities.”
Netanyahu added that Israel remained prepared “for every scenario, including a return to fighting if necessary.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Central Command demonstrated Wednesday that the American naval blockade against Iranian ports remained fully operational despite the pause in Project Freedom.
CENTCOM announced that a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet launched from the USS Abraham Lincoln had disabled the rudder of the Iranian-flagged tanker Hasna after the vessel ignored repeated warnings and attempted to breach the blockade en route to an Iranian port.
“The U.S. blockade against vessels attempting to enter or leave ports in Iran remains in effect,” CENTCOM said.
The latest developments came as the Iranian regime faces mounting economic pressure following more than two months of sustained military operations, maritime disruption, sanctions pressure, and the near paralysis of major portions of its oil export economy.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.