Trump to Iran: Deal or US 'finishes the job'
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- Trump warned that the US would either secure a deal with Iran or "finish the job," saying from the Oval Office on Sunday that the military option could strike Iran's electricity and power-generating plants "in the small part of an afternoon."
- Trump said he preferred diplomacy to avoid harming 91 million ordinary Iranians, but insisted the US retained the ability to hit critical Iranian infrastructure if talks collapsed.
- Trump claimed Iran had already made concessions but acknowledged no final agreement had been reached, asserting any deal would require removing Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium — a proposal Iranian authorities have repeatedly rejected.
- US-Iran indirect talks are currently suspended during funeral ceremonies for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with both sides expected to resume negotiations afterward.
- Trump said the goal of the conflict was never to collapse Iran's regime, a reversal of his earlier comments during the US-Israeli military campaign when he openly encouraged Iranians to take control of their government.
- Trump hedged on the deal's prospects, saying "we're close to maybe making a deal, I don't know," while reiterating "we're going to win one way or the other."
Why it matters: Trump's optimism that the two sides are "close to maybe making a deal" directly contradicts Iran's repeated rejection of the enriched uranium removal concession, and his "small part of an afternoon" strike timeline signals the military option is operationalized, not theoretical — the gap between his diplomatic rhetoric and the pace of military planning is the story.
