WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump warned he's giving Iran one final opportunity to agree to a peace deal or risk "decapitation" as the two sides disagreed publicly about whether new talks were underway.
"This is a last chance," Trump said on Aug. 3. "This is a last chance for them to sign a good document."
Trump, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, later added that he wants to give Iran "every last chance before decapitation."
Iran earlier in the day denied the president's assertion that Tehran and the United States agreed to renew negotiations after Trump over the weekend held off on carrying out what he called "the biggest attack since World War II."
"I'm very proud of the fact that I will give people a chance," Trump said. "This is a big move. To do an attack that big on a country ‒ I'd rather not do it."
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Iran denies Trump's assertion of renewed talks
Throughout the five-month U.S. war against Iran, Trump has used sweeping rhetoric to inflate the scale of military action and threats; most notably, in April he warned "a whole civilization will die" if Iran did not agree to U.S. demands. Trump has also frequently overstated the prospects of a deal with Iran emerging.
After holding off on the large-scale attack, Trump on Aug. 2 said renewed talks with Iran on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and addressing Iran's nuclear capability would begin Monday, Aug. 3.
But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei later said Iran is not currently holding talks with the United States, telling reporters Tehran is instead in discussions with Oman about a temporary safe route through the Strait of Hormuz.
"We currently do not have negotiations with America," Baghaei said, according to NBC News, adding that Iran has no plans to host foreign delegations or send negotiators abroad in the coming days.
Trump says talks are happening
Trump rejected Iran's assessment. "They're going on with Iran. They're going on right now," Trump said of negotiations. "For some reason, when they're talking, they don't like saying that they're talking."
Trump has often complained that different factions within the same Iran government during negotiations are frequently at odds with each other, making it difficult to decipher Tehran's formal positions.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Aug. 2, Trump said the U.S. was "all set to go" with what he described as a "massive attack" on Iran over the weekend but scrapped the plans at the request of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Trump said the three Middle East allies expressed confidence about a deal emerging to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and address Iran's nuclear capability. He said Iran "very strongly" asked that the United States hold off on the attack as well.
"We had an attack that would be the biggest attack since World War II, and it would have been disastrous for them," Trump said. "And they didn't want us to do it, and frankly, Saudi Arabia didn't want it either. They thought that a deal is imminent."
'I'm under no time constraint' with Iran, Trump says
At Trump's direction, the U.S. hit Iran with 13 nights of consecutive airstrikes in July after a memorandum of understanding for the two sides to work on a peace deal fell apart. The pause, which began July 23, was intended to give negotiations another chance, but progress on talks has not materialized.
Trump blasted Iran's leadership in an Aug. 3 post on Truth Social after Iran denied that negotiations restarted.
"Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous!" the president said. "They ask for a meeting, some would say 'beg,' talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about, and they’re only dealing with 'Oman.'"
Trump added: "Whether Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking of a solution to a problem that they have caused, for decades. It is very simple, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!"
At least 18 U.S. service members have died in action during the war in Iran, which has turned increasingly unpopular among Americans. More than two-thirds of Americans surveyed in a Washington Post/Ipsos poll in July said they disapprove of Trump's handling of the war.
The ongoing war with Iran, which has fueled higher gas prices, poses a political risk for Trump and Republicans as they look to hold on to their slim House and Senate majorities in the November midterm elections. Yet Trump suggested he doesn't feel a rush to end the conflict ahead of the election.
"I'm under no time constraint. You know, I don't happen to be running, but a lot of very good Republicans are running," Trump said.
