WASHINGTON, June 3 — US President Donald Trump said Iran has agreed not to have a nuclear weapon and that he would probably meet with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khameneiat some point if things “work out”.
“They’ve already agreed they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told “Pod Force One” in an interview broadcast today, while speaking about Iran.
Asked about Khamenei’s involvement in talks with the US on ending hostilities, Trump said, “He’s involved, absolutely. ... I think they have a lot of respect for him.”
Trump said he was hearing Iran’s leader was not doing too well but was giving his approval during the negotiations. Trump added that he had not had “the privilege of meeting” Khamenei.
“I’d like to meet him. We probably will meet at some point, depending on how it all works out,” Trump said.
The US president said he viewed the Iran war as a success because the country’s military had been defeated. The conflict, which began with US-Israeli strikes on February 28, has upended the global energy market and has proven unpopular with Americans months before November congressional elections.
“Iran’s a big success,” Trump said in the interview. “We’ll see what happens. We’re going to, we’re working on a deal, and that happens fine. If it doesn’t happen, that’s OK too. We’ll do it the other way.”
He did not specify what that might mean, but has said in the past that the US would resume strikes. — Reuters
US forces launched overnight strikes on missile sites in southern Iran and boats they said were trying to lay mines in Gulf waters, sending oil prices higher Tuesday and fuelling tension as diplomats sought a deal to end the war.
A photo published on May 22, 2026, shows US Navy fighter jets taking off from aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea. Photo: US Central Command, via Facebook.
The international benchmark Brent crude jumped up by almost three percent after the US Central Command announced the new wave of bombings, and China urged both sides to respect their truce and resolve their dispute peacefully.
Iran did not immediately confirm the reported strikes, but state media reported blasts in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, and the Revolutionary Guards Corps said its forces had downed a US drone entering its airspace and fired at an F-35 fighter jet.
In a statement marking the start of the Eid al-Adha holiday, Tehran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei declared that Washington was losing its influence in the Middle East and warned Middle East countries to ensure that they no longer host bases from which the US could launch attacks.
The United States, he said in a written statement, “in addition to no longer having any safe haven in the region for aggression and the establishment of military bases, is moving further and further away from its former position with each passing day”.
Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for US Central Command, said: “US forces conducted self-defence strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.”
‘We’ll see’
He gave few details of the attacks and said only that the targets included missile launch sites and boats trying to “emplace mines.”
Despite the strikes, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that a deal remained within reach.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivers remarks to members of the media at the White House on May 5, 2026. Photo: The White House, via Flickr.
But he remained firm on the fate of the Strait of Hormuz, the key oil and gas shipping route out of the Gulf, which Iran is seeking to control by charging fees to approve the passage of vessels.
“There were some talks going on in Qatar today, so we’ll see if we can make progress. I think it’s a lot of talking back and forth going on about specific language in the initial document, so it’ll take a few days,” Rubio told reporters during a visit to India.
He said the strait was “going to be open one way or the other,” adding: “What’s happening there is unlawful, it’s illegal, it’s unsustainable for the world, it’s unacceptable.”
The strikes threatened a ceasefire that began on April 8 as the United States and Iran struggle to reach an accord to end a war that has rattled the global economy with a severe disruption of energy flows.
China, Washington’s great power rival and a major energy importer, expressed concern after the US strikes.
“We urge the parties concerned to fulfil their ceasefire commitments, resolve disputes through peaceful means… and promote the early restoration of peace,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning. File photo: China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Hopes of an accord took another blow when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “crush” Hezbollah in Lebanon on Monday evening. Iran has demanded that any peace accord apply to the fighting in Lebanon as well.
On Tuesday, Israel warned Lebanese civilians to evacuate the southern city of Nabatieh ahead of more planned strikes.
Nuclear fuel disposal
US President Donald Trump said in a social media post that he expected Iran to hand over its enriched uranium to the United States to be destroyed, or have it destroyed in Iran with an international witness.
The nuclear fuel “will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location”.
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