Trump says talks continue, but US is ‘locked and loaded’

US President Donald Trump has said that Iran was showing its strongest commitment so far in negotiations with Washington, but stressed he had not yet decided whether to authorise major military strikes against the country. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump said discussions with Tehran were continuing and that Iranian negotiators appeared increasingly committed to reaching an agreement. “I think they’re being by far the most serious that we’ve seen them, ” he said, while cautioning that the ongoing talks did not guarantee a breakthrough. Asked whether he had decided to launch large-scale strikes against Iran, Trump replied: “No, I haven’t. ” He warned, however, that the US remained fully prepared to escalate the conflict if necessary. “We can take that to a much higher level if we want to. We’re prepared to do that. We’re locked and loaded and ready to go, ” Trump said, adding that while he viewed diplomacy as the wiser course, military action remained an option. “There are two ways. I consider that the smarter way, but the other is probably the easier way, ” he said, referring to negotiations and the use of force. Trump said senior members of his administration, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner, were involved in efforts to resolve the crisis. Reiterating Washington’s long-standing position, Trump said Iran would not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. “It’s a big deal. They cannot have a nuclear weapon, ” he said. Trump also dismissed suggestions that domestic political considerations were influencing his approach, despite concerns among Republican strategists that the conflict could hurt the party in November’s US midterm elections. “Despite what everyone says about the election, I’m not in a hurry. We have to do it right, ” he said. The latest remarks come as fighting between the US and Iran continues despite a Pakistani-brokered framework agreement signed in June that aimed to end the war, which began in February, and lay the groundwork for a lasting peace accord. The United States has carried out a series of strikes on Iranian targets since last week, saying they were in response to Iranian attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has retaliated with strikes on facilities and bases it says are used by the US military across the region, keeping the conflict simmering even as diplomatic contacts continue.

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