Donald Trump has claimed that Iran is willing to make a deal with the US after his “big armada” arrived in the Middle East, amid growing fears that Washington could order an attack.
The US president has repeatedly refused to rule out an attack on Iran in response to a brutal crackdown by the Tehran regime on widespread protests over the country’s economic crisis. Local health officials have suggested that as many as 30,000 people may have been killed in the protests.
Trump recently moved military assets to the region, with the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and supporting warships arriving in the Middle East on Monday.
“We have a big armada next to Iran. Bigger than Venezuela,” Trump told Axios, referencing the recent buildup of military vessels in the Caribbean prior to the capture of Nicolas Maduro in a dramatic overnight raid.
But he added that a diplomatic resolution was still possible, adding: “They want to make a deal. I know so. They called on numerous occasions. They want to talk.”
Trump did not specify what such a deal would involve.
Sources with knowledge of the situation told the US outlet that Trump is yet to make a final decision on whether to strike Iran. He is expected to decide after holding more consultations this week and being presented with more military options.
A US official said on Monday that the White House is “open for business” with Iran, adding: “If they want to contact us and they know what the terms are, then we’re going to have the conversation”.
The USS Abraham Lincoln and a number of guided-missile destroyers arrived in the Middle East region on Monday, the latest indication of an increasingly aggressive foreign policy stance adopted by the Trump administration in the president’s second term.
It followed remarks by Trump last Thursday: “We have a lot of ships going that direction, just in case … I’d rather not see anything happen, but we’re watching them very closely. We have an armada… heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it.”
The US military said it would carry out an exercise to “demonstrate the ability to deploy, disperse, and sustain combat airpower” in the Middle East.
The protests in Iran began on December 28, sparked by the fall of the Iranian currency, the rial, and quickly spread across the country. They were met by a violent crackdown by Iran’s theocracy, the scale of which is only starting to become clear as the country has faced more than two weeks of internet blackout — the most comprehensive in its history.
Mr Trump has threatened strikes over the killing of peaceful protesters or Tehran launching mass executions in the wake of the demonstrations. But he later backtracked, saying he had been assured by Iran that no executions would take place.
