World·Middle East
Update: Trump expects more Iran talks this week; Qatari mediators eyed Monday as Bessent says oil lifeline nearly dry
One day after rejecting Tehran’s seven-day Hormuz reopening plan, President Donald Trump told Axios in a Sunday phone interview that he expects U.S. negotiators to engage in more talks with Iran this week, saying, “They want to make a deal, but it is not the deal that I want to make. It is what we would have maybe agreed to a year ago. They overplayed their hand.” Two regional sources told Axios they expect another round of indirect U.S.-Iran dialogue as early as Monday, with Qatari mediators set to meet separately with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Fox News Sunday that only about 15 million barrels of Iranian oil remain for delivery to China and that Iran will soon have “nothing left to trade,” citing Operation Economic Outcast and the U.S. port blockade.