Trump said the US is 'very close to a good deal' with Iran but warned military action remains an option if talks fail, while insisting politics will not influence his decisions; CENTCOM said it disabled a vessel that tried to breach the US blockade with a Hellfire missileynet|Against the backdrop of ongoing talks with Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump issued another warning to the Islamic Republic overnight between Saturday and Sunday, saying in an interview with Fox News that he would prefer to reach an agreement with Tehran but is also prepared to resume military action if negotiations fail."We're close to a very good deal," Trump said in the interview, which aired on a program hosted by Lara Trump, the wife of his son Eric. He added that if the United States "doesn't get what it wants," it will "end it in a different way.""We’ve actually left their military alone — people would be surprised to hear that."President Trump says Iran's military hasn't been hit as aggressively because it's "somewhat moderate" compared to other elements of the regime.He argues that wiping out "everybody" could cause… pic.twitter.com/gG84lDSrlD— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 31, 2026 2 View gallery (Photo: Anna Moneymaker / AFP, CENTCOM)Asked what his "red line" would be for renewing military operations against Iran, Trump replied: "Ultimately, an agreement that isn't good for us — that's the line. I'm playing it out to the end, and we'll see what happens."Trump added that the Iranians are "good negotiators" and "cunning," but argued that the United States now holds "all the cards" because, he claimed, Iran has been "militarily defeated."The U.S. president reiterated his position that Washington's primary goal is to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."They can't have a nuclear weapon," Trump said in the interview, which aired as contacts between Washington and Tehran continue, and amid a fragile ceasefire reached after 40 days of intense fighting and airstrikes by both the U.S. and Israeli air forces.Trump's remarks came after a Situation Room meeting at the White House on Friday focused on next steps regarding Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. The meeting lasted about two hours and ended without an official statement.According to a New York Times report citing a senior Trump administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity, the president has not yet decided whether to pursue a new agreement with the Islamic Republic. The official said the administration believes an agreement is within reach, but noted that several issues remain unresolved, including the release of Iranian funds frozen abroad.Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Saturday at a security conference in Singapore that the U.S. military is prepared to resume strikes against Iran if no agreement is reached. He said the United States is fully capable of carrying out such operations and has sufficient munitions stocks to do so both in the region and elsewhere around the world.Hegseth said Trump remains focused on securing an agreement that would prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, but warned that Tehran would face the Pentagon if it refuses to agree.2 View gallery US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (Photo: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)Trump also addressed the potential political cost of a conflict with Iran ahead of the U.S. midterm elections. He said presidents typically have only a short political window for actions related to war, but indicated that such considerations do not influence his decision-making, saying his focus is on doing what he believes is right.According to a Fox News poll cited by the network, 60% of Americans oppose U.S. military action against Iran, up from 55% in April.Trump also claimed that the United States has so far avoided large-scale attacks on Iran's military, despite targeting what he described as various forms of leadership within the regime. He said the Iranian military is viewed as relatively moderate compared with other elements of the government and argued that past conflicts have shown the risks of attempting to eliminate an entire leadership structure, which can leave a country unable to recover for generations.In a post published Friday on his Truth Social platform, Trump outlined what he described as the emerging agreement and again said Iran must commit to never obtaining a nuclear weapon. He also repeated his claim that the naval blockade would be lifted and said the Strait of Hormuz must be opened immediately to unrestricted two-way traffic without tolls.Trump wrote that the United States had removed many mines from the strait and that Iran would remove the remaining ones. He also said enriched uranium buried deep underground beneath mountains damaged by U.S. bombing would be extracted and destroyed in cooperation with Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency.He further stated that no funds would be transferred for the time being and claimed that several less significant issues had already been resolved.Iranian officials quickly rejected Trump's assertions. The regime-affiliated Fars News Agency quoted sources familiar with the matter as saying the U.S. president was attempting to portray a false victory.Separately, U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, announced Saturday that it had disabled a vessel attempting to breach the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports in the Gulf of Oman region. According to the statement, the M/V Lian Star, sailing under the Gambian flag, ignored approximately 20 warnings that it was violating the blockade. A fighter aircraft subsequently fired a Hellfire missile at the vessel's engine room, disabling it.CENTCOM also said that by Friday, 115 commercial vessels had been diverted as part of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.NBC News reported Sunday, citing a U.S. official, that the U.S. military had not found any Iranian naval mines during searches in the Strait of Hormuz, despite intelligence assessments alleging that Iran had placed mines on the seabed. Trump had also claimed that Iran laid mines in the area and said on Truth Social that the United States had destroyed them. However, according to the official, the military has been unable to verify those claims.