US President Donald Trump claims Iranian leaders are desperate to negotiate but questions their readiness, while expressing uncertainty over who currently leads the country following the recent assassination of its Supreme Leader.
US President Donald Trump stated that Iranian leaders are eager to negotiate an end to the ongoing conflict, but he expressed deep skepticism about their readiness and his own desire to reach an agreement. Speaking on current back-channel discussions, Trump noted, "Iran wants to reach a deal and is talking to those who represent us," according to the Qatari-funded قناة الجزيرة. However, he highlighted a critical intelligence gap in the wake of the recent assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, stating, "There are leaders in Iran who want to negotiate, but we do not know who is actually leading Iran."
Trump's ambivalence was widely covered across Arab media, with the Hezbollah-aligned قناة الميادين | عاجل reporting his remark: "I don't know if I want to make a deal with Iran." Other outlets, including القاهرة الإخبارية AlQahera news, اخبار الغد, and the anti-US channel نايا - NAYA, echoed his assessment that while the Iranians "desperately want to negotiate," they are not yet prepared to do so.
Behind the scenes, the timeline for the war remains highly fluid. According to sources cited by NBC News and relayed by واحد عراق and Al Jazeera, Trump is regularly presented with options to end the war with Iran, but has not adopted any of them so far. The same sources indicated that Trump hopes Israel will halt its strikes on Iranian oil fields out of concern that the attacks will drive up global energy prices.
In response to the diplomatic posturing, the Iranian Parliament Speaker issued a stark warning to the US President. According to Al Jazeera, the Speaker declared that Trump must realize he cannot "impose peace by force" and is "incapable of ending the war."
The background context regarding the recent assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader perfectly explains Trump's repeated comments about not knowing who is actually leading Iran. The Arabic channels extensively quoted Trump's somewhat contradictory statements about negotiations.