Iran war live: Trump says he did not offer Tehran sanctions relief

Donald Trump said over the weekend he didn’t care what Iran had to say about the possibility of a deal.

But what is clear, confirmed to Al Jazeera in the last couple of hours, is that Americans are talking to mediators believed to be the Qataris, and the Iranians are doing that as well. So, no face-to-face talks, but at least they’re in discussions and testing positions.

Certainly, the United States said that Donald Trump wants the Iran nuclear issue to be at the top of the agenda. And once that is the case, they can look at moving on from these discussions.

They’re talking about how the United States intends to continue the economic pressure on Iran by keeping the blockade in place. They say that the number of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz is increasing as well.

Donald Trump believes that economic pressure could lead to people on the streets turning against the government, forcing regime change – something he talked about on the first day of the war, which is now entering its eighth month.

They say that Donald Trump has a great deal of patience. That may suggest that the options he is considering, including keeping the economic embargo in place, possible military action, or pursuing diplomatic measures, can wait until after the midterm elections in about 35 days.

One of the key things in the statement says that while Iran cannot be trusted – because, in the American view, they broke the memorandum of understanding – this is all about sequencing: Who does what first, who commits to what first.

So once that happens, then perhaps there is the possibility that there may be some diplomatic movement, but it seems unlikely before those midterm elections.