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President Donald Trump revealed Saturday that Iran submitted a significantly better proposal within 10 minutes of his decision to cancel a planned round of nuclear negotiations, a sequence he described as a telling sign of Tehran's eagerness to deal even as the diplomatic process remains in flux.
"They gave us a paper that could have been better, and interestingly, immediately when I canceled it, within 10 minutes we got a new paper that was much better," Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One in Florida for the return flight to Washington.
The disclosure reframed what had initially appeared to be a straightforward breakdown in talks into something more ambiguous, suggesting back-channel pressure may be working even as formal negotiations stall.
Trump said he pulled the plug on sending envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan because the trip involved "a lot of traveling" and because his negotiators "weren't meeting with the leader of the country," implying Iran's delegation lacked the authority to make binding commitments.
Yet the rapid Iranian follow-up appeared to validate his instinct. Without detailing the contents of either proposal, Trump said the second offer showed that "they offered a lot." His core demand, he stressed, remains fixed: Iran "will not have a nuclear weapon."
On future communications, Trump signaled a preference for direct, lower-profile contact. "We will deal by telephone and they can call us anytime they want," he said, adding flatly, "we have all the cards."
The cancellation came shortly after Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi departed Pakistan, which has been serving as the primary intermediary between Washington and Tehran.
Within hours, Araghchi landed in Muscat, where he is expected to hold meetings on regional developments. Oman has a long history as a quiet back-channel between the two countries, having hosted indirect talks before the current escalatory cycle.
Pakistan, meanwhile, signaled it has no intention of stepping back from its mediating role. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke by phone Saturday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in what Sharif described as a "warm and constructive discussion" on the regional situation.
In a post on X, Sharif acknowledged Iran's dispatch of a high-level delegation to Islamabad and reaffirmed that Pakistan intends to serve as an "honest and sincere facilitator" for lasting peace, with the backing of regional partners.
As diplomats moved between capitals, Iran's joint military command issued a blunt warning Saturday, stating that continued U.S. "naval blockades, banditry, and piracy in the region" would provoke a decisive military response. The statement, carried by state-run IRNA, added that any renewed aggression by the U.S. or Israel would result in greater losses for both.
On the same day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered what his office called "vigorous" strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, following rocket and drone attacks on northern Israel and Israeli ground forces in southern Lebanon in which no injuries were reported. Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed at least six people Israel identified as Hezbollah militants, even as a fragile ceasefire remained nominally in effect.
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