IRAN WAR: Trump claims both sides 'very close' to reaching deal
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U.S. President Donald Trump spoke extensively about the war in the Middle East in a sit-down interview with NBC News that aired Sunday as the war reached its 100th day.
Speaking to NBC’s Kristen Welker on Meet the Press , Trump said both sides are “very close” to reaching a deal and said Tehran had agreed in principle to give up its nuclear weapons.
“We’re very close,” Trump said. “They’ve conceded the fact that they will not have nuclear weapons. We had a clause in there that (they) will not develop nuclear weapons. And everybody was very happy with it except me.”
The U.S. president said he’s seeking additional restrictions to prevent Iran from purchasing or acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Trump’s position on the status of the talks contradicts comments from a senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who told CNN that indirect talks between the two countries were deadlocked over the $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets held by the U.S.
Speaking to NBC, Trump says he would not unfreeze Iranian assets or lift any sanctions before a peace deal is reached.
Trump’s interview aired as mediator Pakistan is again making a diplomatic push to end the war, sending its interior minister to Tehran to deliver a “special letter” to Iran’s supreme leader.
The move also comes as the U.S. and Iran exchanged more attacks in the Persian Gulf over the weekend despite a ceasefire.
Here’s the latest on the conflict on Sunday:
Trump: No plan to withdraw U.S. troops until ‘completion’ of war
In the interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press , Trump said he did not plan on withdrawing the approximately 50,000 U.S. troops in the Middle East until the “completion” of Iran War.
“I don’t consider them in danger,” he told NBC’s Kristen Welker.
He also said he wouldn’t rule out sending U.S. troops to retrieve Iran’s nuclear stockpile, but said he hoped it would be done as part of a deal with Iran to end the three-month-old war.
“If we make a deal that now we’re friendly, we’ll all go together. It’ll be our equipment. We’ll take it out and destroy it, whether it’s on-site or whether we take it off-site,” Trump said.
“Now, if we don’t make a deal, then we’re going to take them out militarily very harshly. And we’ll wait till we do that before we go, in which case we’ll have safety either way.”
Pakistani official in Tehran
Arriving in Iran’s capital late Saturday, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said he had a letter from Pakistani army chief Syed Asim Munir to Iran’s supreme leader, AFP reported, citing Iranian state TV.
Naqvi also said he had a message from Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
“I think it’s a very important message,” Naqvi said, per AFP.
He met Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and passed along the letter, the Islamic Republic’s foreign ministry said, without any further details.
News of his visit followed an exchange of strikes between the U.S. and Iran over the weekend.
On Saturday, the U.S. military shot down two Iranian drones in the Strait of Hormuz, claiming the attack drones “threatened international maritime traffic.”
Calling the U.S. strikes a violation of the ceasefire agreement, Tehran retaliated by firing ballistic missiles at U.S. military bases and facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Israel hits Beirut’s southern suburbs
The Israeli military struck the southern Beirut suburbs on Sunday, hitting two apartments in two buildings, after saying it had intercepted two projectiles launched by Hezbollah into Israeli territory.
In a joint statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military struck “terrorist” headquarters in Beirut’s Dahiyeh district in apparent retaliation for Hezbollah firing toward northern Israel earlier. This is in apparent defiance of a U.S. request not to attack Lebanon’s capital.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said two apartments in two buildings were targeted, stating that at least two people were killed and 11 were injured in the strike.
Earlier last week, Lebanese and Israeli officials in Washington announced a conditional ceasefire agreement, but Hezbollah quickly rejected the deal and demanded a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory.
Lebanon was drawn into the wider war when Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2 in support of Iran.
— with files from Bloomberg and AFP