Donald Trump. Credit line: Pool/ABACA / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Iran was in talks with the United States and suggested an agreement to avoid military attacks, reports The Guardian.
“(Iran) is talking to us and we'll see if we can do something, otherwise we'll see what happens … We have a large fleet heading over there. They're negotiating,” Trump told Fox News.
Trump added that US allies in the region were not informed of plans for possible attacks for security reasons.
“Well, we can't tell them the plan. If I told them the plan, it would be almost as bad as if I told you, in fact, it might be worse,” Trump said.
Washington deployed a naval battle group led by the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier off the coast of Iran after Trump threatened to intervene in Iran following a bloody crackdown on anti-government protests. The flotilla's arrival sparked fears of a direct confrontation with Iran, which has warned it would respond with missile attacks on US bases, ships and allies – particularly Israel – in the event of an attack.
After the Fox News intervention, Trump declined to say whether he had made a decision on what he plans to do about Iran.
Speaking to reporters as he flew to Florida, Trump avoided answering whether Tehran would feel emboldened if the US stopped launching attacks, saying: “Some people think so. Some people don't.”
Trump said Iran should negotiate a “satisfactory” deal to prevent the country from getting nuclear weapons, but added: “I don't know if they will. But they're talking to us. I'm serious about talking to us.”
