Trump says Iran wants to meet 'very badly' after US strikes
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US strikes on Iran had effectively ended hostile rhetoric from Tehran and pushed its leaders to seek talks with Washington.
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US strikes on Iran had effectively ended hostile rhetoric from Tehran and pushed its leaders to seek talks with Washington.
"We just did a really great job. And then, of course, you cap it off with the hit, the perfect hit in Iran, where they were talking awfully badly, you know, death to America, death to Israel. They were talking awfully badly," Trump said at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa.
"They're not talking badly anymore, to be honest with you. And we might even meet with them and see," he added.
"They want to meet, they want to meet, and we'll see if we can do something. But they want to meet. I think they want to meet very badly."
'US not looking to hurt Iran'
Earlier in the day, Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews that "Iran does want to speak. And I think they'd like to speak to me. And it's time that they do."
"We're not looking to hurt them. We're looking to let them be a country again. They got beat up and, you know, they were they were both exhausted, frankly. But Iran really got beat up. And I think they want to meet. I mean, I know they want to meet. And if it's necessary, I'll do it."
Trump made the remarks after his phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where the two sides discussed Iran and Ukraine.
First sanctions after strikes
The US Treasury imposed sanctions on Thursday against a network that smuggles Iranian oil disguised as Iraqi oil and on a Hezbollah-controlled financial institution, the Treasury Department said.
A network of companies run by Iraqi-British national Salim Ahmed Said has been buying and shipping billions of dollars worth of Iranian oil disguised as, or blended with, Iraqi oil since at least 2020, the department said.
They were the first round of sanctions imposed against Iran following the US and Israeli strikes against Iranian military and nuclear facilities.
“We have degraded their program by one to two years, at least,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told reporters. “All of the intelligence that we've seen leads us to believe those facilities, especially, have been completely obliterated.”
The June 22 strikes targeted Iran’s nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan using bunker-buster bombs and Tomahawk cruise missiles, a mission US officials have described as a success.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed that the Fordow facility had sustained major damage. “What we know so far is that the facilities have been seriously and heavily damaged,” he told CBS News, adding that the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran is still evaluating the site.
Despite the damage, Araghchi said Iran would not abandon its nuclear efforts. “Our peaceful nuclear program has turned into a matter of national pride and glory,” he said. “People will not easily back down from enrichment.”
IAEA says enrichment could resume within months
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said on Sunday that Iran retains enough technical capacity to resume uranium enrichment in a matter of months. “They could have, in a matter of months—or even less—a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium,” he told CBS.
“Frankly speaking, one cannot claim that everything has disappeared,” Grossi said. “There is still something there.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi echoed that view, saying the program could recover if the government chooses to act. “If there is this will on our part, and the will exists in order to once again make progress in this industry, we will be able to expeditiously repair the damages and make up for the lost time,” he said.
Tehran suspends cooperation with UN watchdog after strikes
Tehran has since enacted legislation suspending cooperation with the IAEA under its safeguards agreement, unless its demands—including guarantees for its nuclear facilities and scientists—are met. The IAEA said on Wednesday it had not yet received formal clarification and that its inspectors remained in Iran.
Meanwhile, Iranian officials and state media have escalated criticism of the agency. A senior judiciary official said IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi could face trial in absentia for “deceptive actions,” while a hardline newspaper called for his arrest and execution. France, Germany, and the UK condemned the threats in a joint statement and reaffirmed support for the agency.
Despite the damage to key facilities, Iran has not ruled out further enrichment. “People will not easily back down,” Araghchi said. President Donald Trump warned earlier that any resumption of enrichment would be met “without question” by further military strikes.
