US President Donald Trump said Iran wants to make a deal with Washington and has attempted to make contact, after a US aircraft carrier and warships arrived in the region.
"We have a big armada next to Iran. Bigger than Venezuela," Mr Trump told Axios, referring to the naval vessels sent to the South American country before his administration launched an operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro early this year.
A US official told The National that the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group had arrived in the Central Command's area of responsibility. That means the US now has considerable firepower within striking range of Iran.
But Mr Trump also put diplomacy on the table. "They want to make a deal. I know so. They called on numerous occasions. They want to talk," he added.
On Monday, a senior US official said Washington was "open for business", in reference to talks with Iran. "If they want to contact us and they know what the terms are, then we're going to have the conversation," the official said.
Iran's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, said his country's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US special envoy Steve Witkoff were in contact. "They do not currently have a fixed channel of communication. It can hardly be called a negotiation," Mr Bahreini said.
Mr Trump repeatedly threatened to strike Iran and intervene if the Tehran regime continued its deadly crack down on anti-government protests that swept across the country. At least 5,800 people have been killed in the demonstrations, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said.
About 17,000 more deaths are under review as an internet shutdown continues, the agency added. Iranian authorities have blamed the deaths on “foreign-backed” rioters, accusing the US and Israel of inciting violence in the country.
Mr Trump reportedly held back from ordering military action against Tehran after being told protest killings were easing and plans for large-scale executions had been halted. But fears of military escalation linger as Iranian and US officials trade threats.
The US President addressed the move to send warships to the Middle East as he returned to the US from the World Economic Forum in Davos last week. “I’d rather not see anything happen but we’re watching them very closely.”
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier is accompanied by several guided-missile destroyers. The carrier’s air wing features F-35C fighter jets.
