(Photo credit: Reuters/Kylie Cooper)The Cradle
JUL 27, 2026
US President Donald Trump claimed on 27 July that “deep talks” with Iran were ongoing, while renewing the threat of “very strong military action” against the Islamic Republic in the event that the alleged negotiations “don’t work out.”
“We are in very deep talks with Iran. If they don’t work out, we will go back to very strong military action,” Trump told US outlet Axios in an interview.
In response to a question on how long the “negotiations” would last, Trump said, “Not much time. Either it goes fast or not at all.”
“All of the people that deal with Iran asked me: ‘Don’t fire,’” he went on to say, claiming mediators and regional states lobbied him to give diplomacy another chance. “Nothing gained, nothing lost,” he added.
The president also mentioned his upcoming meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington this week.
“I am going to talk to Bibi [Netanyahu] about the fact that if I weren’t president, Iran would have had nuclear weapons by now and Israel would have been destroyed,” he told the outlet.
Axios alleged that “current negotiations are focused on a new deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and relaunch talks on a comprehensive nuclear deal.”
It stated that talks are being “conducted mainly between Iran and Oman,” but that Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt “and Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, are actively involved.”
The interview coincided with an AP report that said “progress” has been made in getting the two sides back to the negotiating table.
“Mediators led by Qatar and Pakistan are working to bridge the gap between Washington and Tehran to return to an interim ceasefire deal that had collapsed,” anonymous regional officials told AP.
Shortly before the AP report, drones of unknown origin – potentially belonging to Iraqi resistance factions – targeted energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. Aramco sites were targeted by the Yemen’s Ansarallah resistance movement on Monday as well, as announced by Sanaa.
Israel also said on Monday that its forces shot down two drones over the Jordan border.
Hours earlier, Iran completely rejected claims by Trump, US officials, and media reports that negotiations were underway.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said that Iran and Oman were discussing joint management of the Strait of Hormuz, and that the talks had nothing to do with the US.
“We will not allow the US to determine the time of war and peace … We will defend ourselves for as long as necessary,” he said.
Over the weekend, Trump claimed Iran was taking alleged negotiations seriously following a pause of around two weeks of heavy US bombing against the Islamic Republic – to which Tehran responded with devastating strikes on Washington’s assets across the region.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also recently claimed that Iran was “begging” for a deal.
Trump, Rubio, and other US officials say they have crippled the Islamic Republic’s military capabilities.
However, satellite imagery and reports revealed heavy casualties and significant losses inflicted by Tehran on US bases in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, and elsewhere in the region in recent days.
Earlier this month, the Iranian army warned that it will leave “no trace” of the US military presence in West Asia if Trump carries out his renewed threats to destroy all of Iran’s bridges and power sites.
Trump has been making this threat since the start of the war months ago.
Axios had cited sources over the weekend as saying that the US “paused” the strikes on Iran due to their “limited effectiveness,” which military officials reportedly briefed Trump about.
As a result, the president delayed his plans for an even further and heavier escalation against Iran following the meetings with US military officials.
US intelligence assessments have recently concluded that continued military attacks against the Islamic Republic are “unlikely to move” Tehran or “soften its position” in any potential new round of negotiations, according to the Washington Post.
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