Trump says Iran Has Reached Out for Talks After Deadly Strikes

U.S. President Donald Trump has revealed that Tehran has initiated contact for possible negotiations following the recent escalation in hostilities between the United States, Israel, and Iran.

In an interview with The Atlantic, Trump said Iran reached out seeking talks and that he agreed to engage.

“They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk,” Trump told the magazine’s reporter, Michael Scherer, during a telephone interview. “They should have done it sooner. They should have given what was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long.”

The president also stated that several Iranian officials who were previously involved in negotiations are no longer alive, referencing the recent strikes.

“Most of those people are gone. Some of the people we were dealing with are gone because that was a big hit,” Trump said.

The remarks come in the wake of coordinated U.S.-Israeli military operations targeting Iranian strategic sites. The strikes reportedly killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, as well as the country’s armed forces chief of staff, Abdolrahim Mousavi. Reports also indicate that members of Khamenei’s immediate family, including his daughter, grandchild, daughter-in-law, and son-in-law, were among those killed.

Following Khamenei’s death, Iran is said to be under transitional leadership as the country’s Assembly of Experts prepares to select a successor.

Trump did not provide details about who is directly handling or overseeing the renewed diplomatic outreach from Tehran.