18 August,2026 08:08 AM IST | Washington | mid-day online correspondent
Donald Trump. Pic/AFP
US President Donald Trump said Iran wants to reach an agreement with Washington but is unwilling to accept the kind of deal he considers necessary, as a 60-day negotiating period between the two sides ended on Monday.
Trump made the remarks while speaking to reporters at the White House, without providing details about the status of the negotiations. He reiterated that preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon remained the US objective.
Trump said Tehran was interested in reaching an agreement but maintained that Iran had not agreed to the conditions he considered necessary.
"They want to make a deal, but they're not going to make the kind of a deal that I feel is necessary," Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.
He did not elaborate on the outstanding issues in the negotiations or indicate whether further talks between Washington and Tehran were planned.
Trump stressed that the US position on Iran's nuclear programme remained unchanged.
"You understand that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and they won't have a nuclear weapon," Trump said. "It's very simple. They can't have a nuclear war."
The comments came as the two sides reached the end of a 60-day negotiating period, with disagreements over Iran's nuclear programme and the strategic Strait of Hormuz continuing to dominate the discussions.
Trump also spoke about the Strait of Hormuz, a major global shipping route, and claimed that the United States had "total control" over the waterway through a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
"We control it (the strait) with the blockade. And I like the idea of declaring it a territory," Trump said. "We have total control over the Strait now."
Trump has repeatedly raised the possibility of treating the strategically important waterway as US territory, although he did not provide details about how such a move could be implemented.
The Strait of Hormuz is a key route for global energy shipments, and developments affecting its operation can have implications for crude oil prices and international markets.
Trump also commented on Oman, which has reportedly been working with Iran on a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz while keeping the waterway under the control of the two countries.
Asked about his earlier warning against Oman, Trump said he believed the country had not acted appropriately but suggested the United States could respond without difficulty.
"I don't think they behaved very well, but we'd handle them very easily, just like we do others."
His remarks add another layer to the tensions surrounding the waterway, where competing positions between the United States and Iran have raised concerns over regional security and international shipping.
Meanwhile, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) rejected Trump's claim that a backchannel for negotiations exists between Washington and the IRGC.
In an interview with the semi-official Tasnim news agency, IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi described Trump's claim as a "delusion" and said there was no dialogue taking place between IRGC officials and the United States.
Mohebbi also said Iran's diplomatic apparatus was not currently negotiating with Washington.
He attributed the absence of talks to what he described as Washington's "breach of promises".
The conflicting statements highlight the gap between the positions of Washington and Tehran as the 60-day negotiating period comes to an end.
While Trump said Iran was seeking an agreement but would not accept the terms he considered necessary, Iranian officials denied that direct or backchannel negotiations with the United States were taking place through the IRGC.
The nuclear issue remains central to the dispute, with Washington insisting that Iran must not acquire a nuclear weapon and Tehran maintaining its position in the face of US pressure.
(With inputs from IANS)
