Trump expects talks with Iran to resume in coming week

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Sunday (Sep 27) that he expects talks with Iran to resume in the coming week, a day after rejecting a truce proposal put forward by Tehran.

"They want to make a deal, but it is not the deal that I want to make," Trump told Axios. "It is what we would have maybe agreed to a year ago."

Iran said Friday it had submitted a proposal to the United States to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but Trump rejected it, asserting that Iranian leaders wanted the deal because "they are losing so badly."

"They overplayed their hand," Trump said in the Axios interview published Sunday.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, Axios reported that indirect talks between Washington and Tehran could take place as early as Monday.

The talks would follow indirect discussions between US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi that were held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

The fresh negotiations would be conducted through Qatari mediators, Axios added.

In the interview, Trump said that the largest volume of oil since the war began had transited the strait over the weekend, at more than 20 million barrels.

The maritime route, through which one-fifth of the world's oil and gas flowed before the war, lies at the heart of the conflict sparked by US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.

Since then, Iran has asserted control over the strait, while Washington has responded by imposing a blockade on Iranian ports.

When asked whether he was considering resuming strikes against Iran, Trump replied: "I am always thinking about it."

According to The Wall Street Journal, the US president is considering resuming strikes on Iran after the November 3 midterm elections, as he grapples with growing public opposition to the war in the Middle East, which has sent fuel prices soaring.