Iran is negotiating as US bolsters military presence: Trump

US President Donald Trump has signalled a tentative opening for diplomacy with Iran, even as Washington sharpens its military posture in the Middle East.

Speaking to Fox News, Trump said Tehran was in talks with the United States, leaving the outcome deliberately open-ended.

“They are talking to us, and we’ll see if we can do something. Otherwise, we’ll see what happens,” Trump said, striking a familiar note of uncertainty laced with warning.

Recalling past confrontations, Trump added that earlier negotiations had failed to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “The last time they negotiated, we had to take out their nuclear. It didn’t work. Then we took it out a different way, and we’ll see what happens,” he said, without elaborating.

Even as diplomatic feelers are extended, the show of force is unmistakable. Trump revealed that a “big fleet” — larger than the armada previously dispatched to Venezuela — is heading towards Iran, led by the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln. The deployment underscores the heightened risk of confrontation simmering beneath the surface of talks.

The president also made it clear that US military plans remain tightly guarded, even from Gulf allies. “We can’t tell them the plan,” Trump said. “If I told them the plan, it would be almost as bad as telling you — maybe worse.”

From Tehran, cautious signals of engagement emerged. Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said a framework for negotiations with Washington was taking shape. “The formation of a structure for negotiations is progressing,” he wrote on X, offering no further details.

Larijani’s remarks followed high-level talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, where economic ties and pressing regional and global issues were discussed — a reminder of the broader geopolitical chessboard at play.

As US military muscle gathers near Iran’s shores and diplomatic channels inch forward, the standoff enters a volatile phase — suspended between dialogue and the looming shadow of force.

With IANS inputs