Trump Says Iran Can Call US If It Wants Negotiations to Stop the War
US President Donald Trump has said that Iran can call the United States if it wants to hold negotiations to end the war. This was stated as the US and Iran failed to continue peace talks in Pakistan over the weekend.
Trump cancelled the visit by the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to Pakistan on Saturday (25/4). This step was taken after Tehran refused to hold direct talks with Washington and chose to convey its concerns through Islamabad as a mediator.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made a brief visit to Islamabad on Saturday (25/4), but only to meet senior Pakistani officials, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The situation has dashed hopes of reviving peace negotiations between the US and Iran, after an initial meeting in Islamabad in mid-April ended without any agreement.
In an interview with Fox News’s “The Sunday Briefing”, as reported by Reuters and Channel News Asia on Monday (27/4/2026), Trump suggested that Iran could contact the US at any time if it wanted to continue negotiations.
“If they (Iran) want to talk, they can come to us, or they can contact us. You know, there’s a phone. We have good and secure channels,” Trump said in the interview.
“They know what should be in the agreement. Very simple: they must not have nuclear weapons, otherwise there’s no reason to meet,” the US President emphasised in his statement.
When asked if the cancellation signalled that fighting would resume, Trump asserted: “No, it doesn’t mean that.”
Iran has long demanded that the US recognise its right to enrich uranium, which Tehran says is only for peaceful purposes. However, Western powers and Israel accuse Iran of aiming to build nuclear weapons, a claim repeatedly denied by Tehran.
Although a temporary ceasefire has halted full-scale fighting that began with a joint US-Israel attack on Iran on 28 February, no agreement has yet been reached on the terms to end the war.
Tehran has closed most of the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of global oil supplies usually pass. Meanwhile, Washington has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
The latest report from US media outlet Axios, citing US official sources, states that Iran has submitted a new proposal to the US through Pakistan as a mediator.
Tehran’s new proposal is said to prioritise reopening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting the US naval blockade as an initial step, with nuclear negotiations postponed to a later stage. The proposal also suggests extending the ceasefire for a longer period.
Trump has not yet commented on the report regarding Iran’s new proposal.