US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he may consider visiting Pakistan if a peace deal between the United States and Iran is finalised in Islamabad, signalling cautious optimism over ongoing negotiations with Tehran.
Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn before departing for Nevada, Trump said the situation with Iran was showing positive momentum and indicated that a deal could be reached soon.
"If the deal is signed in Islamabad, I might go. They want me," he told the reporters before departing.
The US President also lauded Pakistan’s role in facilitating talks between the US and Iran, describing its involvement as constructive and saying Pakistani intermediaries “have been so great.”
He further expressed optimism about the progress of the negotiations, indicating that a deal could be announced soon and may have broader economic implications.
"I think we have a very successful negotiation going on right now," he said. "If it happens, it'll be announced fairly soon, and that'll give us free oil, free Hormuz Strait, everything will be nice. And I think your oil price will go down to lower than what it was before."
Later, speaking at an event in Las Vegas, Trump reiterated his upbeat assessment of the talks, saying the situation in Iran was going “swimmingly” and could “be ending pretty soon.”
Furthermore, Trump, without providing evidence, also claimed that Iran had agreed to most of the terms under discussion, including handing over enriched uranium believed to be stored underground after US-Israeli airstrikes last year. Trump has been pushing for an agreement requiring Tehran to abandon its nuclear program.
“The big thing we have to do is make sure that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon, because if they do, you want to talk about problems – you’d have problems. So it is very important that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon, and they’ve agreed to that. Iran’s agreed to that, and they’ve agreed to it very powerfully," Trump told reporters at the White House.
The remarks come amid intensifying diplomatic efforts over the Iran conflict. In parallel, Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Munir met Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in Tehran on Thursday as attempts continued to revive stalled US-Iran negotiations.
According to Al Jazeera, the visit comes amid increased back-channel engagement between the US and Iran, with Pakistani officials expressing optimism about a potential breakthrough, particularly on Iran’s nuclear programme.
Munir, who arrived in Tehran on Wednesday, was received by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. His visit is aimed at laying the groundwork for a possible second round of talks after earlier discussions failed to produce progress.
Major sticking points reportedly remain, including the length of any uranium enrichment freeze and the management of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. The report added that Munir is also expected to travel to Washington as part of Pakistan’s mediation efforts.
