Trump Says He Wants New Nuclear Deal Letting Iran ‘Prosper’

(Bloomberg) -- US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he’s willing to immediately start working on a new nuclear deal with Iran that allows the country to “peacefully grow and prosper,” seemingly softening his stance on the Islamic Republic.

Most Read from Bloomberg

“Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens, ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED,” Trump said in a post on his social networking site Truth Social.

ADVERTISEMENT

He didn’t give details on what such an agreement would entail and Iranian officials haven’t yet responded to the post.

The US has long accused Tehran of using a decades-old civilian nuclear program to disguise ambitions to develop weapons, a claim repeatedly denied by Iran. The latest comments contrast with Trump’s attitude in his first term, when he ordered a fatal strike on Iran’s most senior military general and prompted fears that the US would be drawn into war.

He posted the Truth Social statement hours after signing a directive that calls for tough enforcement of existing sanctions, effectively reviving his first-term “maximum pressure” strategy. Then, this included unilaterally quitting a landmark 2015 agreement that limited Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Those measures weakened Iran’s economy but failed to thwart the country’s regional ambitions and instead triggered a security crisis in the oil-rich Persian Gulf that embroiled neighboring Saudi Arabia and sent jitters through global energy markets.

Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Trump’s maximum pressure strategy would continue to fail. “If the main issue is ensuring that Iran doesn’t pursue nuclear weapons, that’s already a firm commitment, Iran’s position is clear,” Araghchi said in comments aired on state TV.

ADVERTISEMENT

Oil prices fell as traders weighed concerns that a trade war between the US and China will hurt global growth against the possibility of further economic pressure on OPEC member Iran.

Withstanding the Pressure

Araghchi said Iran is already party to the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons — a post-war international agreement seeking to prevent the spread of atomic bombs — and the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had years earlier issued an Islamic ruling forbidding them.

However, the world’s top nuclear regulator said last month Iran’s stockpile of near bomb-grade enriched uranium continued to grow. France, Germany and the UK asked inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency to prepare a special report in the first-half of 2025 about Iran’s nuclear activities.

During Trump’s initial term, the “maximum pressure” regime translated into strong sanctions and tough enforcement, including chasing Iranian oil cargoes on the high seas and killing the country’s most powerful military figure in a targeted drone strike.

ADVERTISEMENT

Khamenei’s theocratic regime ultimately withstood the pressure imposed by US sanctions and has been adept at evading the penalties. Over the past four years, sanctions evasion and less rigorous US enforcement allowed Iran to boost oil exports by about 1 million barrels a day and a crackdown would put $30 billion a year of revenue at risk.

On Tuesday, Trump also spoke to reporters alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying the US should take control of the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that’s been devastated by the war between Israel and Iranian-backed Hamas. Fighting in Gaza is currently paused after a six-month ceasefire agreement.

Thousands of Hamas operatives crossed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting 250. In the ensuing war, more than 47,000 Gazans have been killed, according to health officials in the Hamas-run territory.

--With assistance from Dayana Mustak.

(Adds context throughout.)

ADVERTISEMENT

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.