President Donald Trump said on Monday that negotiations with Iran are progressing and that a nuclear agreement may be within reach — while making clear that military strikes would continue if talks break down.
Speaking to reporters during a tarmac exchange in Miami, Florida, Trump described the ongoing discussions as "very, very strong talks" that had covered "almost all points of agreement."
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Trump said both sides are working within a "five-day period" to gauge where things stand. He struck a cautiously optimistic tone, saying Iran was eager to reach a settlement.
"They want very much to make a deal. We'd like to make you a deal, too," he said.
But he left little ambiguity about the alternative. "If it goes well, we're going to end up settling this. Otherwise, we'll just keep bombing our little hearts out," Trump told reporters.
Trump was firm on the core terms of any potential agreement. He said Iran would not be permitted to enrich uranium, and stressed that the country would "never" be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon.
"We want to see peace in the Middle East," he said, adding that a successful deal would benefit not just Israel, but also Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain.
The President suggested that Tehran had initiated the latest round of diplomacy, not Washington.
"They called. I didn't call. They want to make a deal," he said, referencing a planned strike on Iranian infrastructure that was ultimately not carried out.
Trump also indicated that the United States could take physical custody of Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium as part of any final agreement. "If we have a deal with them, we're going down, and we'll take it ourselves," he said.
Trump defended the military action taken against Iran's nuclear facilities in earlier phases of the conflict, claiming the strikes had significantly delayed the country's weapons timeline.
"If we didn't hit them… they would have had a nuclear weapon within two weeks to a month," he said.
He also noted that several Iranian leadership figures had been eliminated during the conflict, while describing the remaining leadership as broadly "representative of the country."
On the economic front, Trump predicted an immediate market reaction if negotiations succeed. "The price of oil will drop like a rock as soon as a deal is done," he said — a development that would have significant implications for energy-importing nations.
Shifting to domestic matters, Trump addressed the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at US airports. He said he had asked agents to stop wearing masks in that setting, calling it an inappropriate look for a public-facing environment.
He also blamed Democrats for the ongoing federal government shutdown and for broader immigration policy failures. "This is all caused by the Democrats," he said, while praising ICE as "a very high-level group of people" doing "a good job."
Despite his cautious framing, Trump acknowledged that nothing is guaranteed. "I'm guaranteeing nothing," he said. "All I'm saying is we are in the throes of a real possibility of making the deal."
For countries like India — which depends heavily on Gulf energy supplies and has a large expatriate population across the region — the outcome of the US-Iran talks carries direct consequences for energy security and the safety of millions of citizens abroad.