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U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that negotiations with Iran are going "very well" and suggested a potential agreement could be within reach. However, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi offered a sharply different assessment, saying no progress has been made despite continued exchanges between the two sides.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump brushed off the recent escalation in the region and voiced confidence in ongoing diplomatic efforts. "They did something, not a big deal. We got it. We nipped it in the bud very quickly, as we do with the greatest military in the world," Trump stated. "I hear the negotiation itself has gone very well, actually very well."
Trump's remarks came after Kuwait reported that Iran's drone and missile attacks killed one person, injured 63 others and damaged key facilities, including diplomatic missions, in response to U.S. strikes on military positions on Qeshm Island and a vessel bound for an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman.
The U.S. president added that progress could emerge over the weekend and claimed Iran is "pretty close to signing a paper." Trump also argued that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen "immediately" if a deal is finalized.
Asked whether a broader agreement could be reached while Israeli military operations continue in Lebanon, Trump stressed that Washington is trying to separate the issue of the strategic waterway from the conflict involving Hezbollah.
"We actually spoke with Hezbollah for the first time ever. We didn't know they spoke, and they agreed yesterday that they're not going to shoot. Israel's not going to shoot," Trump said. "But I'd like to separate it. I'd like to have a separate thing, because it is separate."
The president also reiterated his intention to secure Iran's enriched uranium stockpile. "I want to get it. We will go in at some time in the not-too-distant future."
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, on the other hand, offered a far less optimistic assessment, indicating that contacts with Washington continue but negotiations remain stalled.
"There is currently no negotiation mechanism in place, but messages are being exchanged with the Americans," Araghchi told Lebanon's Al Mayadeen television network. "Our contact with the Americans has not been cut off, but no progress has been achieved in the negotiations."
Araghchi said both sides are reviewing texts exchanged through intermediaries and working toward a "final formula" for a possible understanding. Any return to negotiations, however, would depend on securing Iran's rights and ending what he described as the war against Iran, Lebanon and the wider region.
"The fate of the war between Iran and the American-Zionist side is inseparable from the fate of the battle in Lebanon," he argued.
The foreign minister revealed that he personally asked Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during ceasefire talks to ensure Lebanon was included in efforts to end hostilities on all fronts.
He also disclosed that Tehran recently warned Washington against any Israeli attack on Beirut. "Two days ago, we sent a message to the Americans stressing the need to halt Israeli attacks on Beirut," Araghchi added.
Iran subsequently placed its armed forces on “full alert” after Israel threatened to strike Beirut's southern suburbs, Araghchi noted, warning that such a move could collapse the ceasefire. "Any attack on Beirut will have serious consequences and will lead to the full resumption of war," he warned.
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