Donald Trump says Iran agrees to renew talks after deadly US-Israeli strikes

United States President Donald Trump has said Iran’s leadership has agreed to resume negotiations with Washington following a wave of coordinated US-Israeli strikes on multiple cities across the Middle Eastern nation.

According to The Atlantic, Trump disclosed in a telephone interview with reporter Michael Scherer that Tehran had reached out for talks and that he had accepted the overture.

“They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk,” Trump was quoted as saying. “They should have done it sooner. They should have given what was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long.”

The US president further claimed that several Iranian officials who had previously been part of negotiation efforts were no longer alive following the military action.

“Most of those people are gone. Some of the people we were dealing with are gone, because that was a big — that was a big hit,” he said. “They should’ve done it sooner. They played too cute.”

The remarks come in the aftermath of coordinated strikes by US and Israeli forces targeting key Iranian installations and officials. Among those reported killed were Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and the country’s armed forces chief of staff, Abdolrahim Mousavi.

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Several members of Khamenei’s family, including his daughter, grandchild, daughter-in-law and son-in-law, were also reported killed during the operation.

Following Khamenei’s death, Iran is said to be under transitional leadership pending the selection of a new supreme leader by the Assembly of Experts, the constitutional body responsible for appointing and overseeing the country’s highest authority.

Trump did not specify which Iranian officials were directly involved in the renewed outreach to Washington or provide details about the potential framework for fresh negotiations.

Iranian authorities have declared a period of national mourning, while reports indicate that senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other high-ranking defence officials were also among those killed in the strikes.

The escalating conflict has resulted in significant casualties on both sides. Iranian officials and regional observers estimate that more than 200 people have been killed and over 700 injured since the strikes began.

In Israel, authorities say at least nine people have died in retaliatory missile and drone attacks launched by Iran, with more than 100 others reported injured.

The latest developments signal a potential diplomatic opening amid heightened regional tensions, though uncertainties remain over the scope and timeline of any renewed negotiations.