Trump makes a surprising overture to Iran at NYC press conference

Donald Trump says he’s open to talks with Iran on a new version of the landmark nuclear agreement he scrapped as president.

Trump, speaking to reporters Thursday in New York City, didn’t go into detail about what he, if reelected, would seek in any agreement but said that talks are necessary because of the threat posed by Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

“Sure, I would do that,” the former president said when asked if he would make a deal with Iran. “We have to make a deal, because the consequences are impossible. We have to make a deal.”

His remarks, amid what polls show is a close race against Vice President Kamala Harris, are notable given his hostility to Iran, both when he was in office and on the campaign trail — including his recent accusations of Iranian attempts to assassinate him.

In 2018, Trump withdrew from the agreement between Iran and major world powers that required Iran to dismantle its weapons program in exchange for sanctions relief. His administration opted instead for what it called a “maximum pressure” campaign that included tougher banking and oil industry sanctions that President Joe Biden has largely maintained.

Since then, Iran resumed enriching the uranium it needs to develop nuclear weapons — a threat that is likely to escalate tensions, and perhaps start an arms race, in the volatile Middle East.

With his remarks, Trump appeared to be trying to ease tensions with the Iranian government. His campaign said this week that U.S. intelligence officials told him Iran has been plotting to assassinate him. A grand jury Thursday indicted multiple Iranians on charges related to hacking Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

Trump said that he was prepared to make a deal with Iran “within one week after the election” if he had won in 2020.

“But Iran would have made a deal with us,” Trump said. “It would have been a great deal for them. The only thing is they cannot have nuclear weapons.”

The U.S. and Iran have been adversaries for decades but the two nations came close to war under Trump, who ordered a strike in 2020 that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iran’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, said Monday that Tehran was open to discussing nuclear negotiations when he traveled to New York this week to attend the United Nations General Assembly. But he acknowledged that Middle East tensions may make it difficult to renew talks.