Trump: Iran Requested Sanctions Relief, and Washington Is Open to Discussion

U.S. President Donald Trump revealed Thursday evening that Iran had sent an indirect message to the White House requesting the lifting of American sanctions, noting that he is open to discussing the matter.

Speaking at a dinner attended by leaders from Central Asian countries, Trump said:

“Frankly, Iran has been asking about the possibility of lifting sanctions. There are very tough American sanctions imposed on Iran, which make things very difficult for them. I’m open to hearing that, and we’ll see what happens — but I’d be open to it.”

Tehran has been under severe U.S. and international sanctions for years, which intensified after Washington’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2018.

In mid-June, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign on Iranian territory targeting nuclear facilities, with the United States joining briefly, an escalation that disrupted the ongoing nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington, which had resumed in April.

Trump asserted that Iran had once been the “bully of the Middle East”, but that it is now no longer capable of acquiring nuclear weapons. He added that recent military strikes had largely destroyed Iran’s nuclear program, although the full extent of the damage is still being assessed.

In September, the United Nations reinstated sanctions on Iran after the activation of the “snapback mechanism” by the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, which prohibits any transactions related to Iran’s nuclear or missile activities.

For its part, the Sultanate of Oman, which previously hosted rounds of negotiations between Washington and Tehran, called on both sides to return to the negotiating table to revive a new agreement that would limit Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.