NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Friday he would be open to Iran suspending its nuclear programme for 20 years, provided the agreement involved what he described as a “real” commitment.
Trump said he would not be much more patient with Iran as he urged Tehran to reach a deal with Washington while also suggesting that the quest to retrieve Iran’s enriched uranium was more about perception than about security.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran has “no trust” in the US and is interested in negotiating with Washington only if it is serious.
Araghchi said he had “received messages” from the United States saying it is willing to continue talks. “We received messages again from the Americans saying that they are willing to continue the talks and continue the interaction,” he added.
The Iranian foreign minister told reporters in New Delhi that all vessels can pass through the Strait of Hormuz except those “at war” with Tehran, if they coordinate with Iran’s navy. But the situation around the waterway, vital to global energy and commodities markets, was “very complicated”, he added, during a visit to attend a BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in India.
In a post on X, Araghchi said he told India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar that “Iran will always carry out historical duty as protector of security in Hormuz,” according to his post on X.
Iran effectively shut the strait, which normally handles about one-fifth of the world’s seaborne oil and gas supply, to most shipping after the US and Israel began their war on Iran in February.
Washington and Tehran announced a ceasefire last month but have been struggling to thrash out a lasting peace pact. Talks mediated by Pakistan have been suspended since Iran and the US each rejected the other’s latest proposals last week.
Araghchi said “contradictory messages” had raised Iranian doubts about the Americans’ real intentions, adding that the Pakistani mediation process had not failed but was in “difficulty”.
The United States and Israel have cut short two previous rounds of talks with Tehran in the past 13 months by launching campaigns of air strikes on Iran. Iran is trying to keep the latest ceasefire to give diplomacy a chance but is also prepared to go back to fighting, Araghchi said.
The issues holding up negotiations between the two sides include Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Hours before he spoke, US President Donald Trump said his patience with Iran was running out and said he had agreed in talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping that Tehran must reopen the strait. Asked if Tehran was open to mediation by Beijing, Araghchi said Iran appreciated the efforts of any country that had the ability to help.
“We have very good relations with China,” he said. “We are strategic partners, and we know that the Chinese have good intentions. So, anything they can do to help diplomacy would be welcomed.”
Araghchi added: “We hope that, with the advancement of negotiations, we will reach a good conclusion so that the Strait of Hormuz can be completely secured and we can expedite the normalisation of traffic through the strait.”
Trump said that the US mainly agreed to the ceasefire due to appeals from other nations, specifically Pakistan. “I wouldn’t have really been in favour of it, but we did it as a favour to Pakistan,” he added, Geo News reported.
The US president said he would not be much more patient with Iran. “I am not going to be much more patient,” Trump said in an interview aired on Thursday night on Fox News’ “Hannity” program. “They should make a deal.”
When asked in the interview about the necessity to retrieve enriched uranium from Iran, Trump suggested the quest was not necessary except for public relations purposes. “I don’t think it’s necessary except from a public relations standpoint,” Trump said in the interview. “I just feel better if I got it, actually. But it’s, I think, it’s more for public relations than it is for anything else.”
China said it had been working to help end the conflict since it began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. “There is no point in continuing this conflict, which should not have happened in the first place,” China’s foreign ministry told AFP.
“To find an early way to resolve the situation is in the interest of not only the US and Iran, but also regional countries and the rest of the world.”
President Trump said his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping “feels strongly” that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. “He (Xi) feels strongly that they can’t have a nuclear weapon and he wants them to open up the strait,” Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One.
China called on Friday for a lasting truce in the Middle East and for shipping lanes to be reopened “as soon as possible”. In an interview with Fox News after the first day of the summit wrapped, Trump said Xi had effectively assured him that China was not preparing to militarily aid Tehran. “He said he’s not going to give military equipment... he said that strongly,” Trump told Fox.
“He’d like to see the Hormuz Strait open, and said ‘if I can be of any help whatsoever, I would like to help,’” Trump added.
President Trump suggested that hunting down Iran’s enriched uranium was primarily for political optics, after Israel demanded it as a goal.
Global stocks slumped and oil prices rose Friday as talks between the United States and China failed to deliver progress on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, rekindling worries of persistent inflation pressures that could derail economic growth.
Oil prices rose three percent, with the international benchmark Brent crude contract at nearly $109 a barrel. On Wall Street, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite slumped from fresh all-time highs set Thursday as an AI tech rally rolled on. The dollar firmed against the British pound, the euro and the yen. The London, Paris and Frankfurt stock markets all ended the day with losses of more than 1.5 percent.
Debris from a fire-damaged cargo ship said to have been attacked by unidentified aircraft in the Strait of Hormuz arrived in South Korea on Friday for investigation, the foreign ministry said.
The United Arab Emirates rejected “attempts to justify Iranian terrorist attacks” on Friday after Tehran accused the wealthy Gulf state of playing an active role in the Middle East war.
Minister of State Khalifa bin Shaheen Al Marar “affirmed the UAE’s categorical rejection of Iranian claims and attempts to justify Iranian terrorist attacks targeting the UAE” and other nations, a foreign ministry statement said.
The statement followed Thursday’s BRICS meeting in New Delhi, during which Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a Telegram post: “The UAE is an active partner in this aggression, and there is no doubt about it.”
The UAE has been “subjected to repeated and unjustified Iranian terrorist attacks”, including about 3,000 attacks by ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, its statement said.
“The UAE reserves all its sovereign, legal, diplomatic, and military rights to confront any threat, claim, or hostile act,” Marar was quoted as saying. “The UAE does not seek protection from anyone and is capable of deterring aggression,” he added.
“It reserves its full and legitimate right to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity to ensure the protection of its citizens, residents, and visitors.”
Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi condemned Friday both the killing of civilians in US and Israeli attacks on his country and the “massacring” of protesters by the Islamic republic. Egyptian smallholders have seen their lives upended by the war in Iran, with soaring fertiliser and energy prices forcing many to lay off workers and reduce the amount of land they farm. Economic growth in Germany, which was just 0.3 per cent in the first quarter, will likely take a significant hit from the effects of the Iran war in the second quarter, the federal economy ministry warned on Friday.
Democrats accused President Trump of corruption on Friday after the disclosure of major stock market transactions carried out in his name, although his son denied there was wrongdoing.
“The President´s corruption is a national security disaster,” Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote on X. Warren referred to the purchase of shares in Nvidia -- the maker of advanced chips used by AI companies.
Trump allowed the company to sell products to China, leading to a temporary boost in its stock price.
Democratic Illinois Governor JB Pritzker called Trump “the most corrupt president in American history” in a post on X.
The documents released Thursday in Donald Trump´s name detail transactions whose total value exceeds $200 million and involve corporate heavyweights such as Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Boeing.
China’s UN ambassador Fu Gong on Friday criticized a proposed US-Bahraini resolution on the Strait of Hormuz, saying the content and timing were not right and passing it would not be helpful. The draft resolution demands Iran halt attacks and mining in the strait, but diplomats have said it is likely to meet with Russian and Chinese vetoes if it comes to a vote. US authorities have arrested a man who allegedly planned terrorist attacks in Europe, Canada and the United States, with some targeting Jewish sites, FBI director Kash Patel said Friday. Mohammad Al-Saadi, identified by US media as a commander of the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah, plotted at least 20 terrorist attacks and planned to target Jewish institutions in New York, California and Arizona, Patel said in a post on X. Al-Saadi was expected to appear in a New York court on Friday. The circumstances of his transfer to the United States are unclear.
