Trump says US ‘talking to the right people’ in Iran, who ‘badly’ want to make a deal

US President Donald Trump claims his administration is “talking to the right people” in Iran, adding that the Islamic Republic “wants to make a deal so badly.”

Iran has denied engaging in talks with the US, and officials familiar with the matter have clarified that what has taken place in recent days has been more of a passing along of messages through mediators.

“We’re in negotiations right now… We have a number of people doing it,” Trump tells reporters in the Oval Office, referring to his negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance.

He reiterates that he was planning to bomb Iran’s main power plant until Tehran purportedly reached out over the weekend, expressing interest in negotiating a deal to end the war.

Trump says he’s demanding in talks that Iran not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon and insists that Tehran has already agreed to that. Iran has long said it’s not pursuing a nuclear weapon, but has been enriching uranium at weapons-grade levels.

Asked if he’d like to see Gulf allies get more involved in the war against Iran, Trump responds, “A little bit, but more NATO.”

“I think our Gulf allies have been pretty good,” he adds.