WASHINGTON, 18 August, 2026 (Nosheen): US President Donald Trump said Monday that Iran would not agree to the kind of deal he considers necessary to end the conflict with the United States, as talks between the two countries remained stalled.Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said the United States was involved in the conflict for one primary reason: to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.“They’re not going to make the kind of a deal that I feel is necessary. Look, we’re in there for one reason: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. Asked whether Washington was seeking an extension of an interim agreement with Iran, Trump replied, “No.”The interim agreement reached in June had called for an “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts.” However, the arrangement quickly unravelled, with Trump declaring it “over” on July 7 and Iran’s Foreign Ministry saying a week later that it had been “suspended.”

Under the memorandum of understanding, Iran and the United States had agreed to negotiate a final agreement covering broader issues, including the future of Iran’s nuclear programme, within a maximum period of 60 days, extendable by mutual consent. Monday marked 60 days since the memorandum was signed. Hours earlier, Trump told a Fox News reporter during a phone interview that Iran “should put up the white flag of surrender.”Separately, Oman and Iran have been holding talks aimed at reaching an agreement to restore commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that carried around 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies before US-Israeli attacks on Iran began in late February.Trump warned that if Oman interfered with US objectives, Washington would respond militarily. Later, when asked in the Oval Office whether he had lost patience with Oman, Trump said the country had not behaved well but that the United States could deal with it easily. The dispute over control of the Strait of Hormuz has pushed up fuel prices and increased pressure on Trump to end a war that has become unpopular domestically ahead of the November midterm elections, which will determine control of the US Congress.Trump told Fox News that the upcoming midterm elections were not influencing his strategy toward Iran. “Midterms have nothing to do with my thinking,” he said. Earlier Monday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that the United States’ “number one Goal” was and would remain ensuring that Iran could not possess a nuclear weapon in any form, reiterating one of his stated justifications for the conflict.