US President Donald Trump on Monday said Iran could not survive sanctions but that Tehran would likely return to negotiations, in the latest conciliatory comments in the wake of diplomatic progress on Gaza.
"I think Iran will come along. They've been battered and bruised and, you know, they're out there. They need some help. There are big sanctions, as you know, tremendous sanctions," Trump told reporters alongside Egypt's President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi.
"I'd love to take the sanctions off when they're ready to talk. But they can't really survive with those sanctions," he added ahead of a summit in Sharm al-Sheikh.
Trump on Monday clinched the release of 20 Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian political prisoners in a complex international deal he says will bring the devastating two-year-old war in Gaza to a close.
A troika of European powers triggered the reimposition of international sanctions on Iran last month, accusing Tehran of spurning diplomacy and nuclear inspections.
Trump reinstated the so-called "maximum pressure" campaign of US sanctions when he resumed office in January.
Iran denies seeking a nuclear weapon, has rejected a US demand that it renounce domestic enrichment and sees sanctions as a violation of international law.
"I think Iran is going to be fine. I know so many Iranian people. They're great people. They're smart. Great, great people. Engineers, lawyers. I mean, they're academics. But they took a big hit," Trump added.
Trump has frequently spoken of wanting better ties with Tehran, even surprising Israeli lawmakers in a speech to the Israeli parliament earlier in the day when he opined: "It would be great if we made a peace deal with them, wouldn’t it be nice,"
The statement earned a smattering of applause from attendees.
Trump earlier this year gave Iran a 60-day ultimatum to reach a nuclear deal, demanding it end all domestic uranium enrichment. Tehran denies seeking a weapon and sees enrichment as a right.
On June 13, the 61st day since talks began, Israel launched a surprise military campaign which killed nuclear scientists along with hundreds of military personnel and civilians.
On the ninth day of fighting, the United States bombed three Iranian nuclear sites which US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said "obliterated" the country's nuclear program.
The 12-day war ended with a US-brokered ceasefire on June 24 but talks between Washington and Tehran have yet to resume.
'I make deals'
Trump has long asserted his deal-making prowess and has cited the Abraham Accord normalization agreements between several Arab states and Israel as a main accomplishment of his first term.
Elected in part on pledges to keep the United States out of foreign wars, Trump took a risk and alienated some in his right-win base with the June 22 strikes, but has described the attacks as necessary to paving the way toward a Gaza deal.
"And frankly, if we didn't hit them with the nuclear, I don't think you would have been able to have this incredible, this deal, this once-in-a-lifetime deal. Nobody's ever said anything like what's happening today," Trump added.
The President has repeatedly said Iran had publicly supported the deal but a foreign ministry statement on Thursday offered only a measured blessing, saying the Islamic Republic supports any accord backed by Palestinians which ends Israeli "genocide".
"Iran did put out a statement that they support this deal very wholeheartedly. So that was, in itself, something," Trump added. "That's all I do in my life. I make deals. And they want to make a deal."
