Trump Says He Is Less Confident About Iran Nuclear Deal as Tehran Warns of Military Strikes if Conflict Arises

US President Donald Trump said he was less confident that Iran will agree to stop uranium enrichment in a nuclear deal with Washington, according to an interview released on Wednesday.

“I don’t know,” Trump told the “Pod Force One” podcast on Monday when asked if he thought he could get Iran to agree to shut down its nuclear program. “I don’t know. I did think so, and I’m getting more and more — less confident about it.”

Trump has been seeking a new nuclear deal to place limits on Iran‘s nuclear activities and has threatened Tehran with bombing if no agreement is reached.

He told reporters at the White House on Monday that he had discussed Iran with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday and said talks with Iranians were “tough.”

In the podcast interview, Trump said Iranians seem to be using delaying tactics.

“I’m less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago. Something happened to them, but I am much less confident of a deal being made,” he said.

Trump repeated that the US would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, whether or not a deal is reached.

“But it would be nicer to do it without warfare, without people dying, it’s so much nicer to do it. But I don’t think I see the same level of enthusiasm for them to make a deal,” he said.

Meanwhile, Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said on Wednesday, days ahead of a planned sixth round of Iran-US nuclear talks, that if if nuclear negotiations fail and conflict arises with the United States, Iran will strike American bases in the region;

“Some officials on the other side threaten conflict if negotiations don’t come to fruition. If a conflict is imposed on us … all US bases are within our reach and we will boldly target them in host countries,” Nasirzadeh said during a weekly press briefing.

The next round of talks is due this week, with Trump saying negotiations would be held on Thursday while Tehran says they will take place on Sunday in Oman.

Iran is expected to hand a counter-proposal to a previous US offer for a nuclear deal it rejected, with Trump saying on Tuesday that Iran was becoming “much more aggressive” in nuclear talks.

Tehran and Washington have clashed on the issue on uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, which Western powers say is a potential pathway to the development of nuclear weapons. Iran holds that its nuclear program is purely for civilian purposes.

“As we resume talks on Sunday, it is clear that an agreement that can ensure the continued peaceful nature of Iran‘s nuclear program is within reach — and could be achieved rapidly,” Iran‘s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on X on Wednesday.

Another sticking point in the talks has been Iran‘s missile program. Ballistic missiles form an important part of Iran‘s arsenal.

Nasirzadeh said that Tehran recently tested a missile with a two-ton warhead and does not accept limitations.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had said in February that Iran should further develop its military, including its missiles.

During his first White House term, Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed limits on Tehran’s disputed nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

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