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President Donald Trump said on Saturday that talks with Iran are moving forward, calling the ongoing backchannel diplomacy “very good conversations” with efforts ongoing to turn the fragile ceasefire into a lasting peace agreement.
Speaking to the media in the Oval Office, Trump, striking an optimistic tone about the negotiations, said, “We have very good conversations going on. It’s working out very well. They got a little cute, as they have been doing for 47 years. Nobody ever took them on. We took them on.”
Claiming to have fully decimated Iran’s command structure and its military capabilities, he confidently said, “They have no navy, they have no air force, they have no leaders. They have nothing.”
Further claiming that a regime change has occurred due to the massive political void created in Tehran, and the disarrayed leadership, Trump remarked, “Actually … it is regime change. You call that enforced regime change, but we’re talking to them.”
Adding that Washington continues to maintain sustained pressure on Tehran, the US has nonetheless kept all diplomatic channels open.
“We’re talking to them … we’re taking a tough stand,” he said, adding, “We’ll have some information by the end of the day.”
He did not take questions after the remarks, leaving details of the talks — including progress on key sticking points like nuclear limits and the Strait of Hormuz — unclear.
The negotiations come weeks after the US and Israel jointly launched strikes against Iran on February 28, carrying out decapitation strikes that eliminated some of the country’s top-tier figures, and left the leadership in a state of disarray, followed by retaliatory missile and drone attacks from Tehran targeting Israel and US-aligned Gulf states.
The fighting is currently at a pause following the April 8 ceasefire brokered by Pakistan, under which both parties have agreed to halt hostilities for 12 days. However, several issues, including the Strait of Hormuz and the naval blockade of Iranian ports, remain unresolved, leaving the ceasefire marked by massive volatility.
Officials are now working to organize another round of talks in Islamabad after an initial session last weekend ended without a deal, though both sides have continued exchanging messages through intermediaries.
Alongside the foreign policy developments, Trump also signed an executive order aimed at accelerating the approval process for certain psychedelic drugs.
He said the measure would direct the Food and Drug Administration to speed up reviews of therapies already designated as breakthroughs, while improving coordination with the Department of Veterans Affairs and clearing regulatory hurdles for potential rescheduling. (UNI)
