Merve Aydogan
21 July 2026•Update: 21 July 2026
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Washington has "no interest" in meeting with Iran until Tehran is ready for "meaningful" nuclear talks.
Speaking during a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the Oval Office, Trump claimed that Iran was "desperate" to meet with the US but had not yet offered the kind of dialogue Washington wanted.
"They want to desperately meet, and until they're ready to meet in a meaningful way, we have no interest in even," Trump said.
Stressing that "Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon," he claimed that the US is “degrading them at levels that nobody thought was possible.”
"If we left right now, it would take Iran 20-25 years to rebuild," Trump argued and said the US war is “not finished at all.”
He also claimed that Washington's actions against Iran " had a big impact," and claimed that if his administration did not take action, then there would not be Israel.
Compared to its operation in Venezuela, Trump said, “This one, Iran is bigger.”
"And honestly, they haven't seen anything yet. We've been nice," he added.
Asked whether Iran had moved nuclear centrifuges to Pickaxe Mountain, Trump said, “Well, I think that they may have. We don't have it on record.”
Saying that the report about centrifuges "doesn't mean anything unless they have the material," he said, “We follow the material. That's where the action is, and we'll be getting that area very probably pretty soon.”
"Normally, I wouldn't say that. If I thought they could do something about it, I would never say that. But we'll be hitting that area pretty soon, and very heavily," he added.
Last week, Trump was briefed in the Situation Room on potential strategies to escalate the conflict. Among the options under consideration were an operation to seize Kharg Island, a major Iranian oil export terminal, and airstrikes targeting nuclear facilities on Pickaxe Mountain.
The US has escalated attacks against Iran since last week, with Iran retaliating with strikes targeting facilities and bases it said are used by the US military in several regional countries.
The exchange of fire between the US and Iran came despite a Pakistan-brokered memorandum of understanding they signed in June to end their war and reach a lasting peace agreement.
