Trump Says an Iran Deal Is Not What He Wants While Vance and Rubio Still Set Terms for One

At a campaign rally in San Antonio on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said of an Iran agreement: “I think the deal isn’t really something that I want to do.” He said it with his special envoy Steve Witkoff still in talks, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance spent the same two days describing what a deal would have to contain. Tehran answered through its foreign minister, its parliament speaker and a senior official who spoke to Reuters.

The remarks arrived beside two reports of military planning. The Atlantic, citing two administration officials, reported that the White House had asked the Pentagon for options to strike Iranian targets before the November 3 midterms. Axios, citing US officials, reported that the Pentagon had told Central Command to finish preparing to resume major combat operations. This piece follows the earlier account of Vance’s Reuters interview and Trump’s rejection of Iran’s Hormuz offer with what was said in the last two days.

Trump said on Wednesday that he does not really want an Iran deal, and also that Witkoff is “doing very well” on one. Rubio and Vance spoke this week about the terms a deal would need: no nuclear weapon, and a “meaningful” cut in enrichment. Iran’s officials say recognition of its right to enrich is a red line and that the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until its seven conditions are met. No launch date for renewed US strikes has been reported.

Trump spoke at a rally in San Antonio, Texas, on Wednesday, according to the Express Tribune of Pakistan. He called Witkoff “a great negotiator” and said “He’s working on the Iran deal and doing very well.” Then: “I think the deal isn’t really something that I want to do.” He added: “They will never have a nuclear weapon,” and said of the war that “it’s going to be very soon. It’s got to be very soon.” CNBC headlined its report that he was “not keen” on a deal as the US reportedly prepared for “massive bombing.”

Rubio spoke on Wednesday at the Greek foreign ministry in Athens, standing beside Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis, as reported by the Times of Israel. “The Straits of Hormuz are open,” he said. “There’s almost as much oil flowing out now as there was before this conflict began. So they’ve lost complete control of the straits.” He called Iran’s economy “in total and complete freefall” and said: “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, simple, period, end of story.”

Vance gave an exclusive interview to Reuters on Monday after a campaign trip to Alaska, carried by the Times of Israel. “If you don’t want a nuclear weapon, then why do you need 60 percent enriched fuel?” he asked. He said that if Iran wanted to show a commitment to not building a weapon, “they would do something meaningful,” and: “We’re not going to trade words for actions.” He also said “it’s not totally clear how their country makes decisions.”

A senior Iranian official involved in the indirect talks told Reuters on Wednesday that Vance’s comments were “Washington’s ideas and requests.” The official said: “Americans are free to make requests and have ideas, but they are at odds with Iran’s demands.” He said no nuclear negotiations have taken place and that recognition of Iran’s right to enrich is a red line on which Tehran “will not show flexibility.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said “the problem is actually the opposite,” pointing to “contradictory positions and mixed messaging from US officials.”

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spent three hours answering questions in Iran’s parliament on Wednesday, The National reported. He said his delegation in New York “explained Iran’s positions in the most eloquent and authoritative manner possible.” One member of parliament filed an impeachment motion over his meeting with US officials in New York, the same report said. On October 4, Reuters reported that parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said, through Nournews, that the strait “will not be opened until our seven conditions” are met. Araghchi told ambassadors in Tehran the same day: “If they again move toward military solutions, we are more prepared than before.”

Rubio and Vance describe a deal with conditions. Trump says he does not much want one. Witkoff remains the man Trump praised by name at the same rally.

The nuclear line is the same in all three mouths. Trump said “They will never have a nuclear weapon.” Rubio said “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, simple, period, end of story.” Vance asked why Iran needs 60 percent enriched fuel. The Iranian official told Reuters that enrichment is a red line.

On Hormuz the accounts cannot both be right. Rubio said the strait is open and Iran has lost control. Qalibaf said it will not open until seven conditions are met. Putin’s mediation offer came the same week.

Baghaei’s complaint about “mixed messaging” now has a dated example. The vice president described terms on Monday. The president, two days later, said he did not much want the deal those terms would produce.

The first marker is November 3. The Atlantic’s account puts strike options before the midterms and the advisers’ preference after them. The second is whether Witkoff’s channel produces any paper, since Trump’s own words say it is not his preferred outcome. The third is whether Iran’s parliament takes up the impeachment motion against Araghchi, whose seven-day plan is the offer on the table. Trump said the war will end “very soon.” Nothing in Wednesday’s statements says by which route.