Trump Expects Iran Nuclear Negotiations to Resume Next Week

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday, September 27, that he expects talks with Iran to resume in the coming week, a day after he rejected a truce proposal put forward by Tehran.

"They want to make a deal, but it is not the deal that I want to make," Trump told Axios in an interview published Sunday. "It is what we would have maybe agreed to a year ago." Iran said on Friday it had submitted a proposal to the United States to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump rejected it, saying Iranian leaders wanted the deal because "they are losing so badly" and adding: "They overplayed their hand."

Citing sources familiar with the matter, Axios reported that indirect talks between Washington and Tehran could take place as early as Monday. They would follow indirect discussions held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York between US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Trump also said that more than 20 million barrels of oil had transited the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, the largest volume since the war began. Asked whether he was considering resuming strikes on Iran, he replied: "I am always thinking about it." The Wall Street Journal reported that the president is weighing renewed strikes after the November 3 midterm elections, as he faces growing public opposition to a war that has sent fuel prices soaring.

The strait matters directly to Gulf states. It is the only sea route out of the Gulf for Qatar's liquefied natural gas exports and for much of the oil shipped by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Iraq. Any agreement to reopen it fully, or any return to strikes, will shape energy flows and security across the region.