Trump says he does not know if US willing to make deal with Iran

President Donald Trump on Thursday signaled uncertainty about whether the US is willing to strike a deal with Iran, even as he claimed Tehran is eager to negotiate.

"They're not fools. They're very smart, actually, in a certain way. And they're great negotiators," Trump said at a Cabinet meeting at the White House, but called the Iranian side "lousy fighters."

Iran is "begging" to make a deal, he added.

"They're great negotiators, and they are begging to work out a deal. I don't know if we'll be able to do that. I don't know if we're willing to do that," Trump said.

Trump boasted about eliminating Iran's entire leadership and said survivors are unable to communicate.

"All of their leadership has been gone," he said.

Indicating that he is "the opposite of desperate" to make a deal with Tehran, he said, "In fact, we have other targets we want to hit before we leave. We're hitting them on a daily basis."

He dismissed Tehran's claims that it is "not negotiating," and said, "Of course, they negotiated."

"They are begging to make a deal. We'll see if we can make the right deal," he added.

The president said the US is "way ahead" of the estimated schedule for the war, and had originally projected for it to last "four to six weeks to achieve" its goal.

"They now have the chance, that is Iran, to permanently abandon their nuclear ambitions and to chart a new path forward," said Trump, warning that the US will be "the worst nightmare" for Iran if they do otherwise.

Asked if taking control of Iran's oil is an option as part of negotiations, he said, "I wouldn't talk about it, but it's an option."

On whether Iran has actually dropped mines in the Strait of Hormuz, he said, "We don't know that they've dropped any mines, by the way, because we blew up all the mine droppers."

"We blew up every one of them," he added.

Regarding the coalition to secure the Strait of Hormuz, he said, "We have a coalition formed, but they should have been up here a long time ago."

He claimed that the US does not need the strategic waterway "at all."

"We have so much oil. Our country is not affected by this," he said.

The US president revealed the present sent by Iranian officials, after asking his Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff if he could, and said Tehran offered 10 Pakistani-flagged boats of oil as a goodwill gesture.

"I hope I haven't screwed up your negotiations," Trump told Witkoff, then explained that the boats would "sail up tomorrow."

Witkoff shared details of his meetings with Iran's negotiators. "Throughout our meetings with the Iranians, we heard the following from them: the Iranians have the inalienable right to enrich. Then we heard they possessed enough 60% enriched material, 460 kilograms (1,014 pounds), to make 11 atomic bombs," said Witkoff.

Describing Operation Epic Fury as "compelling military success," he revealed that the US had "multiple reach-outs from the region and others who want to play a role in ending this conflict, peacefully," he said.

He also said the US presented "a 15-point action list that forms the framework for a peace deal."

"This has been circulated through the Pakistani government, acting as the mediator," he added.

Witkoff claimed that the proposals have been "well received," and warned Iran not to "miscalculate again."

Regional tensions have escalated since Feb. 28, when the US and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran that has killed more than 1,340 people so far, including then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel and Gulf countries that are home to US military assets.

Thirteen US service members have been killed and around 290 others have been injured since the operation began.