President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Iran can reach out to the United Stated if it wants to negotiate an end to the war between the two countries.
"If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us. You know, there is a telephone. We have nice, secure lines," Trump said in an interview on Fox News' "The Sunday Briefing."
"They know what has to be in the agreement. It's very simple: they cannot have a nuclear weapon, otherwise there's no reason to meet," Trump said.
Iran has long demanded Washington acknowledge its right to enrich uranium, which Tehran says it only seeks for peaceful purposes but which Western powers and Israel say is aimed at building nuclear weapons.
Although a ceasefire has paused full-scale fighting in the conflict, which began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, no agreement has been reached on terms to end a war that has killed thousands, driven up oil prices, fueled inflation and darkened the outlook for global growth.
Tehran has largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries a fifth of global oil shipments, while Washington has imposed a blockade of Iran's ports.
Trump canceled a trip by his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan on Saturday, dealing a new setback to peace prospects after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi departed Islamabad after speaking only to Pakistani officials.
Araghchi flew to Oman - another mediator in the war - where he met the country's leader, Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, on Sunday.
They discussed security in the strait and Araghchi called for a regional security framework free of outside interference, according to Iran's foreign ministry.
Araghchi later returned to Islamabad, Iranian state media reported. Pakistani government sources said he would hold talks with the country's leadership before heading to Moscow.
Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that Araghchi's talks with Pakistani officials would include "implementing a new legal regime over the Strait of Hormuz, receiving compensation, guaranteeing no renewed military aggression by warmongers, and lifting the naval blockade."
The talks would be unrelated to Iran's nuclear program, the report said.
Speaking in Florida before being rushed out of the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington when a man opened fire nearby, Trump said he cancelled his envoys' visit due to too much travel and expense for what he considered an inadequate Iranian offer.
Iran "offered a lot, but not enough," Trump said.
