US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iran has agreed to not have a nuclear weapon, as he revealed he will ‘probably meet with Iran’s Ayatollah at some point.’
Speaking in an interview on the ‘Pod Force One’ podcast, Trump said Iran’s leader was involved in peace talks with the US, adding that ‘the Iran situation is rapidly evolving — will be very good.’
‘I would like to meet him, and we probably will meet at some point, depending on how it all works out,’ Trump said of the Ayatollah.
‘They’ve already agreed they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon,’ Trump said, adding that Tehran could still ‘change their mind.’
‘I did have to say we have to do something about Iran, because regardless of how well we’re doing [economically] we can’t let them have a nuclear weapon,’ he said.
‘I mean, now they can change their mind, but that was one of the things they’ve had to agree, they’ve agreed to that. That was the big thing,’ he added.
He also said that the US does not ‘need boots on the ground now.’
Trump also acknowledged having a harsh exchange with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that he was not happy with Israel’s fighting with Lebanon.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iran has agreed to not have a nuclear weapon
‘I did,’ Trump said in the interview. ‘I wouldn’t say angry. I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon, you know.’
Trump went on to say he and Netanyahu get along very well.
It comes as Gulf hostilities flared again on Wednesday as an Iranian missile attack damaged Kuwait’s airport and the US military carried out strikes near the Strait of Hormuz.
The attacks are the latest to test a shaky ceasefire, sending oil prices up more than 2 per cent, as the strait remains largely closed more than three months after initial US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Flights at Kuwait International Airport were suspended after an Iranian drone and missile attack damaged airport facilities and diplomatic missions, killing one person and injuring others, according to Kuwaiti authorities and state media.
The civil aviation authority said Kuwait Airways was resuming flights from Terminal 4, after evaluating damage and taking safety measures.
Bahrain’s army said it had intercepted three missiles and several drones, as Iran said it had attacked the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in the country, as well as an airbase and helicopters in another, unspecified, regional state.
The US military said two Iranian missiles aimed at Kuwait fell short or broke up in flight, while several ballistic missiles failed to strike their targets in the region.
The military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday warned of more missile and drone strikes should the US renew its attacks on Iran.
‘Every shot fired and every attack will be met with a deluge of missiles and drones,’ Mohsen Rezaei posted on X, adding that ‘the aggressor will swiftly be punished’.
The Islamic Republic accused Kuwait and Bahrain of allowing the US to use their territory to launch attacks on an Iranian tanker and the strategic island of Qeshm.
‘The foreign ministry… condemns the colonialist use by the United States of the territory and infrastructure of countries in the region to advance its aggressive plans against Iran, and emphasises the direct and unmistakable responsibility of the leaders of Kuwait and Bahrain for last night’s acts of aggression,’ a statement said.
Iran’s Fars and Tasnim news agencies, both believed to be close to the Guard, reported that Tehran’s negotiators have stopped communicating with ceasefire mediators, as tensions flared in Israel’s separate but related fight against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.
A regional official involved in the mediation, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the talks, told AP that Iran had not communicated at all on Tuesday after saying that a ceasefire needed to be enforced in Lebanon for negotiations to continue.
Trump dismissed the claims on Truth Social, writing: ‘Fake News Reports that the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the U.S.A., stopped speaking a few days ago are false and erroneous.’
Last week, Iran and the US signalled progress towards a tentative initial agreement to halt the war and reopen the strait, but the two sides have yet to sign off on the deal, which would leave more complex negotiations for later.
Rezaei said on Tuesday Iran would not allow the US to ‘overreach’ either in negotiations or ceasefire arrangements.
In a post on X, he warned that any aggression would be met with a barrage of missiles and drones.
Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said repeated attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain required a firm, unified and cohesive Gulf response.
‘The aggression does not target one country alone, but all of us,’ he wrote on X.
Flights at Kuwait International Airport were suspended after an Iranian drone and missile attack damaged airport facilities
Kuwait says Iranian attack targeting its international airport killed at least one person and wounded others
In further signs of escalation, the US military said it had downed drones targeting civilian ships in regional waters and US forces in Kuwait, and had carried out strikes on Qeshm Island near the Strait of Hormuz after attempted attacks by Iran.
Iranian media said that the Revolutionary Guards’ navy targeted a vessel it identified as the Panaya with missiles, in response to what it said was a US attack on an Iranian tanker near Hormuz.
‘Disrupting the security of the Strait of Hormuz will carry a heavy price for the US military,’ media cited the Guards as saying.
Earlier, Iranian media said Tehran had not been in contact with Washington for several days, though US President Donald Trump said negotiations were continuing.
Writing on Truth Social on Wednesday morning, Trump said: ‘The conversations between us have been going on continuously, including four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, one day ago, and today.’
Since mid-March, he has repeatedly said he is close to a deal to end the fighting and pave the way for negotiations on thorny issues including the future of Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump has said his top priority is to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran denies it is developing a nuclear bomb and says its atomic program is for peaceful purposes.
As part of any deal, Tehran is seeking a halt to fighting in Lebanon, access to billions of dollars in oil revenues, waivers on crude exports, a lifting of a US blockade on its ports and continued leverage over the strait.
Meanwhile, the war has killed thousands, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, while causing global economic pain by severely disrupting energy supplies and other shipping.
It also sparked off the latest round of conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, with Israel pursuing its deepest incursion into Lebanon in 25 years.
On Tuesday, Israel kept up strikes on a string of southern towns, Lebanese security sources said, despite a US-mediated partial ceasefire unveiled on Monday.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military said it had intercepted a ‘hostile aircraft’ that crossed into northern Israel.
