Trump 'optimistic about a good chance' for an agreement with Iran

Washington – Agencies: US President Donald Trump expressed optimism about the possibility of reaching an agreement with the Iranians, as the Islamic Republic entered its third consecutive night without US strikes. Clashes between Washington and Tehran were suspended from Saturday dawn, following 13 days of continuous combat operations triggered by the collapse of diplomatic efforts amid ongoing disagreements over navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. However, Trump voiced his hope that renewed diplomatic efforts could end the war, telling reporters aboard Air Force One, “We’ll see what happens. I think there’s a good chance something will happen,” adding, “If it doesn’t, we’ll go back to what we were doing two days ago,” referring to bombing Iran.

In earlier remarks to the US news website Axios, Trump stated that intermediary countries had asked him to halt attacks on the Islamic Republic, noting that his country was “engaged in in-depth talks with Iran,” and emphasizing that he would not wait long for them to bear fruit. Tehran, however, confirmed that no negotiations are currently taking place between the two sides, despite the ceasefire. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said, “Intermediaries may convey a message from the US side regarding developments in the region. But at present, we are not conducting any negotiations with the United States.”

The Trump administration believes that economic sanctions may be more effective than military strikes in weakening the Iranian regime, although the recent US bombing campaign has drawn more attention than the financial pressures Washington continues to impose on Tehran. According to an Axios report, senior US administration officials believe that Iran’s economic crisis is worsening rapidly, and that sanctions, combined with a naval blockade, represent pressure tools that could ultimately push Tehran to make concessions at the negotiating table.

A senior US official told the website that the Iranian leadership “wants the bombing to stop, but it wants money even more,” indicating that Tehran’s priority lies in alleviating economic pressures, releasing frozen assets, and lifting US sanctions. Another US official said that financial pressures have begun to affect Iran’s ability to fund its allies, noting that intelligence had detected complaints within Iran about the difficulty of paying fighters affiliated with them. The official also raised concerns about pressure on the banking sector and the possibility of large-scale bank runs, amid ongoing fuel shortages and declining liquidity, adding that Iranians have “become more afraid of the US Treasury Department than the Department of Defense.”