Trump says he wants to give Iran ‘last chance’ before ‘decapitation’

US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he wants to give Iran a “last chance” before taking what he described as a “decapitation” action, while claiming negotiations are "going on” despite Iranian denials.

“Iran did not want to be hit, and they said we want to talk,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office.

“We’re talking at the request of Iran, backed by Saudi Arabia, backed by UAE and backed by Qatar in particular, but others also,” he said.

“This is the last chance for them to sign a good document,” Trump said.

“I want to give him every last chance before decapitation,” he said when pressed further.

Asked whether talks with Iran were now off, Trump said: “They’re going on right now.”

“When they’re talking, they don’t like saying that they’re talking… We’re in talks, and they’ll sometimes deny it, even though they spend hours and hours together talking,” he said.

Trump said the talks would proceed in two phases, with the first focused on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and the second addressing Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

“We’re talking about the Strait, the opening of the Strait, having it open literally by tomorrow, completely open, and that’s phase one. And phase two is we then will talk about the nuclear capacity,” he said.

Asked where the talks would take place, Trump said the location would be decided “today or tomorrow,” adding that discussions would move quickly.

He also added that the US will not allow Iran to charge the ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. “There's not going to be charging. We're not talking about charging at all.”

Trump said that the oil prices will drop after the US is “finished with Iran,” while adding that top US oil producers ExxonMobil and Chevron “made too much money.”

“When you look at one company where they made 12 times what they made the year before, they would give some of that back to the public, and they better cut the retail price, the consumer price. Too much money,” he said.

Iran said Monday that it is not engaged in negotiations with the US and that it is working with Oman to establish "a temporary route" in the Strait of Hormuz to ensure safe navigation through the strategic waterway.

“Our current discussions with Oman are focused on ensuring the safe passage of ships in the Strait of Hormuz,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said at a press briefing.

Baqaei rejected reports of negotiations between Tehran and Washington, saying: “We are not having negotiations with the United States.”

In recent weeks, the US and Iran have exchanged military strikes, with Washington attacking targets inside Iran and Tehran responding by targeting what it described as US military facilities and equipment in several Arab countries, particularly Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait.

The escalation followed a memorandum of understanding signed by Washington and Tehran in June and the launch of negotiations toward a final agreement.

The talks later stalled over disagreements concerning security guarantees and freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically important routes for energy supplies and global trade.