‘Ready when you are’: Trump offers nuclear deal to Iran amid tense standoff
US President Donald Trump said Washington is ready to strike a nuclear deal with Tehran “whenever Iran is ready,” as he addressed Israel’s parliament during his visit.
The United States is ready to reach an agreement with Iran whenever Tehran is prepared to engage, US President Donald Trump said during an address to the Israeli parliament on Monday.
Washington and Tehran had held five rounds of nuclear negotiations before a 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel in June, during which the US also targeted key Iranian nuclear sites. Talks have repeatedly stalled over major sticking points, including uranium enrichment on Iranian soil — something Western nations want reduced to zero to prevent weaponisation, a demand Iran has so far rejected.
“We are ready when you are, and it will be the best decision Iran has ever made — and it’s going to happen,” Trump said, referring to the prospect of a deal. “The hand of friendship and cooperation is open. I’m telling you, they want to make a deal… it would be great if we could make a deal,” he added while addressing the Knesset.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi on Saturday signalled openness to a “fair and balanced” proposal from Washington but noted that Tehran had not yet received any concrete starting points for negotiations. “If we receive a reasonable, balanced, and fair proposal from the Americans, we will certainly consider it,” Araqchi told state television, adding that both sides had been exchanging messages through mediators.
Trump, who was warmly received in Israel ahead of a planned trip to Egypt for a regional summit aimed at building conditions for lasting peace in Gaza, said, “There’s nothing that would do more good for this part of the world than for Iran’s leaders to renounce terrorists and finally recognise Israel’s right to existence.”
Araqchi, however, dismissed the idea of normalising ties with Israel as “wishful thinking.” “Iran will never recognise an occupying regime that has committed genocide and killed children,” he said.
The Iranian foreign minister also confirmed that he and President Masoud Pezeshkian had declined an invitation to attend the Egypt summit. “While favouring diplomatic engagement, neither President Pezeshkian nor I can engage with counterparts who have attacked the Iranian people and continue to threaten and sanction us,” Araqchi posted on X on Monday.
(With inputs from Reuters)