Trump says US and Iran are closer to reaching a nuclear deal

Patrick Sykes, Bloomberg News on May 15, 2025

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President Donald Trump suggested the U.S. is closer to an agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear activities, prompting a sell-off in oil.

“I think we’re getting close to maybe doing a deal,” Trump said in Qatar at an event with business leaders on Thursday. “You probably read the story that Iran has sort of agreed to the terms.”

Trump appeared to be referring to an NBC interview with Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Shamkhani reiterated Tehran’s position that it’s willing to limit uranium enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief.

“We’ll see what happens,” Trump said, shortly before traveling to the United Arab Emirates for the final part of his trip to the Gulf this week. “But we’re in very serious negotiations with Iran for long-term peace. And if we do that, it’ll be fantastic.”

Oil fell on Thursday, partly on Trump and Shamkhani’s comments. Brent was down 3.3% to $63.90 a barrel at 11.10 a.m. in London.

Trump’s latest rhetoric was more optimistic than that of Iran. Its lead negotiator, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, on Wednesday urged the U.S. to come to the next round of Oman-mediated talks with a “more realistic” approach. The date and location for those is yet to be decided.

Tehran is currently considering a written proposal that the U.S. presented at the fourth round last week, Axios reported Thursday, citing American and other sources familiar with the matter.

While Iran deliberates, the U.S. is piling on pressure. It’s announced new oil sanctions, warned that its offer won’t last forever and repeated threats of military strikes if Iran walks away from the talks.

That leaves the Islamic Republic with an uncomfortable choice: agreeing to terms it might prefer to negotiate further or resisting the ultimatum and risking the diplomatic efforts falling apart.

Another option is an interim agreement, which would give Trump a quick win and relieve some of the pressure on Iran. But trust in Tehran toward the U.S. is low after Trump’s 2018 decision to abandon the last nuclear agreement. Ultimately, Iran will want to pin down which sanctions the U.S. will lift and for how long.

Trump’s priority is to prevent Iran building a nuclear weapon, while Tehran is seeking a reprieve from the crippling U.S. sanctions, which have slowed economic growth for years and helped push the inflation rate to around 35%.

A key sticking point has been whether Iran will be allowed to enrich uranium to the low levels required for civilian purposes or forced to abandon enrichment work altogether. Iran has said it wouldn’t agree to the latter, while U.S. officials have made conflicting statements on their red lines.

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—With assistance from Jordan Fabian.