New talks ‘last chance’ for Iran to forge deal and avoid escalation, Trump warns

Mr Trump warned Tehran was facing its last chance (AP)

US president Donald Trump has said newly planned talks with Tehran are the “last chance” for Iran to forge a deal and avoid an escalation of American strikes on the country.

Mr Trump, speaking at the Oval Office, said he expects negotiations that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and create a pathway for Iran to address United States’ concerns about its nuclear programme will begin in the next day or two.

The US leader said: “The first phase is the opening of the straits. The second phase will be the denuclearisation.”

Mr Trump says that ”will take a little while”.

While Mr Trump has revelled in the US military decimating layers of Tehran’s leadership and devastating its air force and navy, Iran is betting it can outlast Mr Trump as he faces diminished stockpiles of munitions and the difficulty of executing a war that is unpopular with the American electorate ahead of November’s mid-term election.

Mr Trump said he decided to hold off on ordering American forces to carry out new massive strikes against Iran at the urging of Gulf allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

He said that a plan was in place for US forces to carry out “the biggest attack since World War Two” on Sunday. But he decided to scrap the plan and give diplomacy more time to play out after hearing from key Gulf leaders – including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – as well as at the request of unnamed Iranian officials.

Earlier, Mr Trump had raised doubts about the prospects of negotiations after the Iranian foreign ministry said Tehran announced it is not currently holding negotiations with the United States.

“Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous!” Mr Trump fumed on his Truth Social platform.

Mr Trump may still come to the conclusion that a massive escalation in the conflict with Iran is necessary.

But critics say his hesitation also might reflect an unspoken understanding inside the administration that US military might alone may not be enough to compel Iran to back down and bring an end to a now months-long war that Mr Trump had earlier downplayed as an excursion that would last only weeks.

“I think what we’re seeing here is a president who has an approach that’s just rather erratic,” said senator Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, on CBS News.

“At this point, he’s trying to get us back to February. And I think if he could – if he had a big reset button he could hit – he would certainly take that option.”