During a conversation with journalists on Sunday aboard Air Force One on the way back from Florida to Washington, Trump said that “direct and indirect” negotiations with Iran were going “extremely well” and expressed hope that an agreement would be reached soon.
— They gave us most of the points (…) They agree with us about the plan. We offered 15 things and most of them (they agreed). We'll ask for a few other things, Trump said, without giving details. He also added that as a gesture of goodwill, Iran allowed 10 tankers through the Strait of Hormuz last week and agreed to allow another 20 tankers to pass through.
Trump again stressed that following the killing of a number of leading figures in Iran's power apparatus, the country had in fact undergone “regime change” and that the new rulers were “very reasonable.”
Speaking to journalists on board the plane, the president vowed that if Iran extorts fees from ship owners for transit through the strait, “it will do whatever it has to do.” “We can close it in two minutes.” “We can shut this down so fast it will make your head spin,” the US president said.
According to the New York Times, several hundred special forces soldiers arrived in the Middle East on Sunday. In the previous days, an expeditionary unit of marines and soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division were brought there. On Saturday, the Washington Post reported that the US was planning possible land operations that could last several weeks, although no decision has been made on this matter.
