Trump says Iran won’t be given time to build a nuclear weapon

Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian dismissed US President Donald Trump’s rhetoric on peace as contradictory.

“Trump speaks of peace on one hand and on the other, announces the production of deadly and destructive weapons,” Pezeshkian said.

“Trump made claims that perhaps no one but himself could believe. We don’t know which to trust—his message of peace or of slaughter.”

Tehran will not negotiate over its right to enrich uranium or dismantle its nuclear infrastructure, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, even as the country signals readiness to engage over international concerns.

“The preservation of Iran’s enrichment capabilities and nuclear infrastructure is non-negotiable,” he said, according to Iranian state media on Saturday.

"Iran remains open to confidence-building over the peaceful nature of its nuclear program but will not trade away rights granted under the Non-Proliferation Treaty."

Separately, in a post on X, Araghchi said Iran had “not received any written proposal from the United States, whether directly or indirectly,” and criticized Washington’s posture. “The messaging we—and the world—continue to receive is confusing and contradictory,” he wrote. “Respect our rights and terminate your sanctions, and we have a deal.”

He added: “There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to enrichment for peaceful purposes: a right afforded to all other NPT signatories, too.”

“There’s not plenty of time,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News' Bret Baier. “We’re going to have a solution one way or the other. It’s either going to be violent or non-violent. And I far prefer non-violent.”

“I don’t want it to be a violent thing, but they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon,” he added. “I know so many Iranians from New York, from Washington, from a different place. These are great people. You know, they have to view them as people.”

Trump said Iran appears interested in engaging. “Iran wants to trade with us, okay, if you can believe that. And I’m okay with it. I’m using trade to settle scores and to make peace,” he said. “I’ve told Iran, we make a deal, you're going to be really... you’re going to be very happy.”

He also questioned why Iran would pursue nuclear energy given its vast oil reserves. “When you have unlimited amounts of oil and gas, why are you putting up nuclear civil?” he said. “If you’re sitting on one of the largest piles of oil in the world, why?”

Trump says Iran got US proposal

Earlier in the day, Trump told reporters that Iran had received a formal US proposal for a nuclear agreement and warned Tehran not to delay. “They have a proposal. More importantly, they know they have to move quickly or something bad—something bad's going to happen,” he said.

Axios reported Thursday that the written proposal was delivered during the fourth round of indirect talks between US and Iranian officials last Sunday in Muscat, Oman. The document, carried by White House envoy Steve Witkoff, reportedly outlines terms for a monitored civilian nuclear program.

According to the report, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi took the proposal back to Tehran for review by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior officials. U.S. and diplomatic sources described the offer as the first formal one from the Trump administration since talks began in April.

Iran, however, denied receiving any proposal. Araghchi wrote on X that no such document had been delivered and reaffirmed Iran’s position on uranium enrichment.

“The messaging we—and the world—continue to receive is confusing and contradictory,” Araghchi said. “Mark my words: there is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to enrichment for peaceful purposes.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking Thursday from Turkey, said diplomacy remains on the table but emphasized that the decision ultimately lies with Iran’s Supreme Leader.

“I hope he chooses the path of peace and prosperity, not a destructive path,” Rubio said.

Sebastian Gorka, an aide to US President Trump, warned of "catastrophic consequences" for Iran's leadership if nuclear talks fail, saying the United States will not tolerate Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

"The message is very clear. We will not permit Iran to maintain a nuclear weapons program,” Gorka, the National Security Council’s director of counterterrorism, told Iran International.

“And the president has likewise made clear, we will not permit Iran to continue to be the largest state sponsor of terrorism, and to fund and train and direct proxies all around the region,” he added.

"Those two things will end, or as the president has made clear, there will be catastrophic consequences for the dictatorship in Tehran."

US President Donald Trump’s team is showing flexibility on the issue of low-level uranium enrichment as part of a potential deal with Iran, Politico reported Friday, citing two unnamed European officials and a former Trump administration official.

“Trump has been led to believe that low-level enrichment isn’t a threat – this is the compromise John Kerry made in the JCPOA,” the former official was quoted as saying, referring to the 2015 nuclear agreement negotiated under former president Barack Obama.