President Donald Trump, on his way to the G7 summit in Canada on Sunday, the 15th of June, said he hoped Israel and Iran would reach an agreement, but added that sometimes countries had to fight it out first. In an interview with ABC News, he said he was open to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine and who has resisted Trump’s attempts to broker a truce with Kyiv, acting as a mediator, according to Reuters.
Earlier on Sunday, Trump expressed optimism that peace would soon prevail.
“Iran and Israel should make a deal, and it will be made,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social. “There will be PEACE between Israel and Iran very soon! Many calls and meetings are taking place.”
Trump did not provide any information or evidence of progress in the peace talks.
Later on Sunday, Trump told reporters that the US would continue to support Israel’s defence, but declined to say whether he had asked US allies to halt air strikes on Iran.
“I hope an agreement will be reached. I think it’s time for an agreement, and we’ll see what happens. Sometimes you have to fight it out, but we’ll see what happens,” Trump said.
Israel and Iran launched new attacks on Sunday, killing and injuring civilians and raising concerns about a wider regional conflict, with both armies urging residents on the other side to beware of further attacks.
On Monday before dawn, Iranian missiles struck Israel’s capital Tel Aviv and the port city of Haifa. The country’s emergency services said that at least five people were killed in the latest Iranian attacks, bringing the death toll in Israel since Friday to 18. At least 100 people were injured in the night-time attack, which was part of a wave of attacks by Tehran in retaliation for Israel’s pre-emptive strikes against Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
The US is engaged in talks with Iran over its nuclear programme, and Trump has previously told reporters that the talks are going well.
Trump told ABC News on Saturday that Iran wants to reach an agreement and indicated that something similar to Israel’s strikes would speed it up. However, following the Israeli and Iranian strikes, another round of talks scheduled for Sunday in Oman was cancelled.
Iran has told mediators Qatar and Oman that it is not ready for talks on a ceasefire while it is under attack from Israel, an official told Reuters on Sunday.
“The Iranians have informed the Qatari and Omani mediators that they will only resume serious talks once Iran has completed its response to Israel’s pre-emptive strikes,” the official said.
Iran “has made it clear that it will not negotiate while it is under attack,” the official said.
Trump said that during Saturday’s conversation with Putin, they discussed the situation in the Middle East and focused more on this conflict than on Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“He’s ready. He called me about it,” Trump said of Putin as a mediator. “We had a long conversation about it. We talked about it more than his situation. I believe it will be resolved.”
Trump, who sees himself as a peacemaker and has been criticised by political circles for his inability to prevent conflict between Israel and Iran, mentioned other disputes he has taken on, including between India and Pakistan, and expressed regret that he had not received more praise for this.
“I do a lot and never get any credit, but that’s okay, the people understand. Let’s make the Middle East great again!” he wrote on Truth Social.