Donald Trump says U.S. negotiating with Iran directly and indirectly

U.S. President Donald Trump said that Iran had agreed to allow 20 ships carrying oil through the Strait of Hormuz starting on Monday (March 30, 2026) morning and continuing over the next few days “out of a sign of respect.”

“I would only say that we’re doing extremely well in that negotiation but you never know with Iran because we negotiate with them and then we always have to blow them up,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Sunday (March 29) night board Air Force One as he flew to Washington.

Iran-Israel war LIVE updates

Mr. Trump was asked if Iran had responded to the 15-point ceasefire plan the U.S. has proposed and he said, they did and added, “They gave us most of the points. Why wouldn’t they?” But Mr. Trump didn’t offer details when asked about Iran, by his telling, appearing to make major concessions. “They’re agreeing with us on the plan,” Mr. Trump said.

He also said Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei “may be alive but he’s obviously, very seriously in trouble. He’s seriously wounded.”

Iran launched strikes on Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, meanwhile after Iranian electrical facilities came under attack, cutting power to parts of Tehran and surrounding areas.

As Israel continued to press its offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the UN Force in Lebanon said a peacekeeper had been killed on Sunday (March 29) and another critically injured by a projectile that hit a UNIFIL position.

UNIFIL said they did not know the origin of the projectile but were investigating.

Mr. Trump, citing the number of Iranian leaders who have been killed in the month-long U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, said regime change has already been achieved and the new leadership is “much more reasonable”.

“We’ve had regime change,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. “We’re dealing with different people than anybody’s dealt with before. It’s a whole different group of people. So I would consider that regime change.”

Asked whether there could be a deal with Iran this coming week, Mr. Trump said: “I do see a deal in Iran. Could be soon.”

Trump suggests U.S. could take Iran’s Kharg Island

U.S. President Donald Trump has raised the idea of American forces seizing Iran’s Kharg Island, its main oil terminal in the Persian Gulf.

The comment by Mr. Trump came in an interview published early on Monday (March 30) by The Financial Times.

“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” >Mr. Trump told the newspaper. “It would also mean we had to be there (on Kharg Island) for a while.” Asked about Iranian defences there, he said: “I don’t think they have any defense. We could take it very easily.” The US already launched airstrikes once it said targeted military positions on the island.

Iran has threatened to launch its own ground invasion of Gulf Arab countries and new attacks if US troops land on its territory.

Mr. Trump said that Iran’s parliament speaker authorised the passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.

The comment by Mr. Trump in the interview is the latest signal by the Americans of Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf’s importance within Iran’s theocracy.

“They gave us 10” Pakistani-flagged tankers, he said. “Now they’re giving 20 and the 20 have already started and they’re going right up the middle of the Strait.” “He’s the one who authorised the ships to me,” Trump told the newspaper about Qalibaf. “Remember I said they’re giving me a present? And everyone said: What’s the present?’ … When they heard about that they kept their mouth shut and the negotiations are going very well.” Qalibaf has maintained a combative personality through his X account in the war, mocking the Americans and issuing threats. But the former Revolutionary Guard commander has seen his profile rise as senior members of its theocracy have been killed.