Trump says 'good talks' with Iran taking place during lull in strikes

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - DUBAI — President Donald Trump said on Monday the United States was having "good ‌talks" with Iran and there was a chance of a deal over their conflict, after the warring sides did not exchange strikes for a third straight day.

Trump expressed optimism for an end to the war on Monday, telling reporters aboard Air Force One: "I think there's a good chance that something could happen."

However, he warned that Washington would "go back to doing what we were doing" before the pause in fighting if the latest negotiations failed.

However, Iran has downplayed the talks, saying no direct negotiations are taking place.

Washington abruptly suspended a two-week campaign of air strikes on Iran on Saturday in Trump's latest strategic U-turn in the five-month-old conflict.

The pause follows daily US strikes and tit-for-tat attacks, effectively unravelling a ceasefire struck in June.

Trump said he had decided to pause US strikes on Iran on Friday because the countries mediating between them had asked him to give the talks another chance.

"We're having good talks," he said. "I think there's a good chance that something could happen, ​and if it does, good, if it doesn't, we go back to doing what we were doing two days ago."

At a campaign rally in Michigan later on Monday, Trump said of Iran: "You can't bribe ​them. You've got to beat them, and we'll beat the hell out of them. But we'll see how it turns out. Right now, there are very friendly negotiations ⁠going on."

Trump claimed Iran had requested a meeting “through their surrogates and directly, and we’re meeting”.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said on Monday that messages were still being passed between the sides through mediators and Iran had not forsaken diplomacy, but reports that it requested negotiations were "fabricated."

"This is not in ​our DNA," he said.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Sunday that Iran would halt its own attacks as long as Trump's self-imposed ceasefire continued.

Iran's central military command later on Monday accused the US of threatening vessels and oil tankers ​in its territorial waters and of "attempting to implement an illegal maritime blockade", which it said "constitutes an escalation of the conflict in the region."

Despite Trump's optimism, Tehran appeared to quickly test the pause in the US military campaign, with Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq reporting drone attacks on Monday.

Saudi Arabia said it shot down drones aimed at petroleum targets, including in Riyadh. It said they had been launched from Iraq by Iran-backed armed groups, and it reserved the right to respond.

Separately, Iran's Houthi allies in Yemen said they had targeted the East-West Pipeline carrying oil to Saudi Arabia's main Red Sea port of Yanbu.

Tehran also said ​it remained in control of the contested Strait of Hormuz, the key waterway for global energy supplies, which Trump has demanded vessels be able to pass through freely.

Iranian state media outlets cited an "informed source" as saying that Iran had turned around six "offending ships" on Monday ​that had attempted to cross the Strait of Hormuz without permission.

The US military said its strikes were aimed to "degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz" — a global route for transporting oil.

Aboard the presidential plane, Trump also dismissed media reports that after five months of fighting, US ammunition stockpiles were now running low.

"We have a lot of ammunition. We have a lot of the mid-level stuff too, more than we could ever use, no matter what," Trump said. "But we have a lot. I'd like to have more."

He said a "lot of equipment" was being built, in particular Patriots — highly valued US-made anti-ballistic missiles.

"That system is going up. We have a lot," he said.

Meanwhile, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the US military "has more than enough munitions, ammo, and stockpiles to serve all of President Trump's strategic goals and beyond, and Operation Epic Fury has exposed what happens when you mess with the United States."

"Even still, the president has urged our defense contractors to constantly produce more made-in-America weapons, which are the best in the world," the spokesperson added.

The two weeks of renewed US bombing killed scores in Iran and destroyed bridges and tunnels across the south as well as military targets.

Four US service members were killed in return fire against US bases in neighboring states. Iran also struck civilian infrastructure in ⁠Gulf countries, calling ​it retaliation for US strikes.