President Donald Trump painted an optimistic, if vague, picture of the state of Iran war negotiations on Tuesday, claiming Tehran had given the U.S. a “prize” related to freeing up oil supplies and the Strait of Hormuz.
“They’re gonna make a deal,” Trump told reporters at the White House as he swore in Markwayne Mullin as the new head of the Department of Homeland Security. “They did something yesterday that was amazing, actually. They gave us a present and the present arrived today. It was a very big present, worth a tremendous amount of money. I’m not going to tell you what that present is, but it was a very significant prize, and they gave it to us.”
“That meant one thing to me,” he added. “We’re dealing with the right people.”
Upon further questioning, the president said the prize was “oil and gas related,” as well as being tied to the strait, a vital waterway for global oil shipments. Elsewhere, Trump claimed the Iranians had agreed “they will never have a nuclear weapon.”
President Trump did not provide further specifics about these alleged concessions, but claimed the U.S. would have control “of anything we want” sometime soon.
The president also argued that the Iran war has been more successful than the media is giving him credit for.
"If you read the papers, you'd think we're tied, you'd think we're in a tough battle,” Trump said. “We are roaming free over Tehran.”
“We can do whatever we want,” Trump added, describing how the U.S. was holding off on striking a key electric plant due to what he said were encouraging signs from Iranian negotiators.
Iranian leadership has pushed back against claims it is bargaining for a rapid end to the nearly one-month-old conflict.
A spokesperson for Iran’s top military command said on Tuesday that its armed forces will not stop “until complete victory” is achieved, pouring cold water on the president’s recent claims that the U.S. was engaging in a brief partial ceasefire amid ongoing talks.
Earlier this week, Iran said Trump’s claims about negotiations were “fake news.”
The president is under heavy pressure to forge a positive outcome for the U.S. in the war, which has killed 13 U.S. service members and sent oil prices spiking, while scrambling the global energy system and exposing U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf to regular attacks from Iran.
Polling shows many Americans are not supportive of the war effort, and the president’s approval hit new lows this week amid the ongoing conflict.
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