President Donald Trump has voiced optimism about the United States and Iran reaching a peace deal, with negotiations set to take place in Islamabad this weekend aimed at ending the nearly six-week conflict.
In a phone interview with NBC TV network on Thursday, the president also indicated that he has asked Israel to scale down its military operations in Lebanon to allow Pakistan-facilitated talks to proceed successfully.
Vice President JD Vance will lead the American delegation to the talks aimed at ending the US-Israel war on Iran that quickly spread across the Middle East, as Tehran retaliated by targeting energy sites in neighbouring Washington-allied countries where US maintains bases.
In the interview, Trump claimed Iranian leaders “talk much differently when you’re at a meeting than they do to the press. They’re much more reasonable.”
“They’re agreeing to all the things that they have to agree to. Remember, they’ve been conquered. They have no military,” he asserted
“If they don’t make a deal, it’s going to be very painful,” Trump said, as the ceasefire announced on Tuesday faced early tests amid conflicting claims over the Strait of Hormuz and Tehran’s warning to Israel over its deadly strikes in Lebanon.
Asked whether he had urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to de-escalate operations, Trump said he had discussed the matter, adding that Israeli forces were “scaling back” their activities in Lebanon.
“I spoke with Bibi (Netanyahu) and he’s going to low-key it. I just think we have to be sort of a little more low-key,” Trump said.