Trump’s border czar says Iranian arrests in US sped up after Iran war

“We had tremendous success with Iran. They were not happy… They’re so bombed out. That place was decimated. It’ll be years before anyone can even get down there," Trump told reporters in Florida.

When asked about the possibility of the US signing a nuclear agreement with Tehran, Trump said "that’s not a priority" after the successful strikes.

"But we’ll get whatever we want, whatever we want from Iran,” he said.

“I think—and I hope—they want to have a good country. You know, they’re under massive sanctions right now. Biting sanctions. It’s very hard for them to do anything under those sanctions. I look forward to maybe a time when we can get along, and they can rebuild their country."

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS News earlier, “I don’t think negotiations will restart as quickly as that... but the doors of diplomacy will never slam shut.”

US envoy Steve Witkoff previously said that talks with Iran are ongoing through both direct and indirect channels.

In his Tuesday remarks, Trump also said he will celebrate the success of the Iran operation when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the White House next week.

“It’s going to be a very quick celebration. We had a great hit—it was an obliteration.”

Trump praised the US military’s operation on the three nuclear sites and said those involved in the mission would be invited to the White House.

Iran, however, has rejected the notion that its nuclear program was destroyed, insisting that its knowledge and scientific capabilities remain intact.

“One cannot obliterate the technology and science of enrichment through bombings,” Araghchi said. “If the will exists on our part—and it does—we will be able to repair the damage and recover lost time quickly.”

Iran remains under international sanctions not only for its nuclear program, but also over its human rights record and its support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“A hostile foreign adversary is threatening to illegally exploit purportedly stolen and unverified material in an effort to distract, discredit, and divide,” the Department of Homeland Security wrote on X.

“This so-called cyber ‘attack’ is nothing more than digital propaganda, and the targets are no coincidence.”

The department warned that any individuals responsible would be held accountable.

Hackers affiliated with Iran, using the pseudonym "Robert," have threatened to release additional stolen emails from associates of Trump, Reuters reported.

The group, which leaked an earlier batch of documents ahead of the 2024 presidential election, claims to possess roughly 100 gigabytes of emails from accounts linked to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan, adviser Roger Stone, and Stormy Daniels, a well-known Trump critic.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi called the breach “an unconscionable cyberattack,” while FBI Director Kash Patel vowed that anyone involved in national security violations would face full prosecution.

“This is a calculated smear campaign meant to damage President Trump and discredit honorable public servants who serve our country with distinction. These criminals will be found and brought to justice,” the DHS said.

Despite earlier comments to Reuters suggesting that no further leaks were planned and that the group had “retired,” Robert re-emerged following the recent 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran, which culminated in US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

“Let this be a warning to others: there will be no refuge, tolerance, or leniency for these actions,” the DHS said.

“I don’t think negotiations will restart as quickly as that,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in his first interview with an American news outlet since the June airstrikes, when asked about President Donald Trump’s suggestion that talks could resume as soon as this week. “We will have to first ensure that America will not revert to targeting us in a military attack during the negotiations.”

However, he added, “The doors of diplomacy will never slam shut.”

Iran not backing down from enrichment, Araghchi says

Asked whether Iran would continue uranium enrichment, Araghchi said, “Our peaceful nuclear program has turned into a matter of national pride and glory. We have also gone through 12 days of imposed war; therefore, people will not easily back down from enrichment.”

US June strikes targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. While US officials said the sites were “completely and totally obliterated,” Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), offered a more measured assessment. He told CBS News the facilities had sustained “significant destruction,” but Iran retained enough capacity to resume enrichment within months.

"One cannot obliterate the technology and science for enrichment through bombings," Araghchi said. "If there is this will on our part, and the will exists in order to once again make progress in this industry, we will be able to expeditiously repair the damages and make up for the lost time."

US warns against renewed enrichment

US President Donald Trump has said further enrichment activity could trigger additional strikes. Asked about the possibility, Araghchi said Iran was prepared for more attacks. “We showed and proved during this 12-day imposed war that we have the ability to defend ourselves, and we will continue to do so should any aggression be launched against us.”

Still, the White House said no new talks are officially scheduled. According to CBS, Araghchi did not offer a timeline for when diplomacy might resume. He said Iran still needed to evaluate the security situation and was not ready to return to negotiations “as quickly as that.”

“Anyone who tries to kill or threatens to kill Supreme Leader Khamenei is a mohareb (enemy of God),” said Alireza Panahian on Monday, expressing support for recently issued fatwas (religious decree) by senior Shiite clerics.

“Every Muslim anywhere in the world must be willing to give their life and take action to kill them.”

Khamenei has been in a hidden location since the start of the war between Iran and Israel, fearing Israeli assassination attempts. He has not been seen in public, even after the ceasefire between the two countries.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on June 16 that killing Khamenei would not “escalate the conflict” but rather “end it.”

Donald Trump said last week that he refused to target Khamenei, despite knowing his exact location.

“I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the US Armed Forces—by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World—terminate his life,” Trump posted on social media.

On Sunday, Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi and Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamedani issued separate fatwas against Trump and Netanyahu.

Shirazi said in his statement: “Any regime or individual threatening the leaders of the Islamic Ummah (nation) and acting on those threats qualifies as a mohareb.”

Panahian called on Muslims around the world to implement the decrees without delay: “These grand ayatollahs have taken a major step by issuing a mohareb ruling against someone who has threatened the Supreme Leader.”

“No one will delay or hesitate anymore in eliminating them. The ruling of mohareb is a matter of great magnitude,” he said.

Under Shiite jurisprudence, the declaration of mohareb and the issuance of a fatwa make it religiously obligatory for devout Shiite Muslims to act.

In 1989, Iran’s former leader Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against British author Salman Rushdie for allegedly blaspheming Islam in his novel The Satanic Verses.

Despite living under heavy security for decades, in 2022 Rushdie was stabbed by an assailant in New York—an attack widely linked to Khomeini’s earlier fatwa.

“Sanctions cost us a lot of money but I would... start waiving them for countries like Iran, if they behave themselves, where they can sell oil and they can do the things that you want to be able to do," Trump told Fox News in an interview aired on Sunday.

On June 24, Trump declared on Truth Social that that China can now resume purchasing oil from Iran. One day later, he said he was not aiming to cut off Iran’s oil revenues as it needs it to rebuild after the war with Israel.

However, Trump said on Friday that he halted his work on lifting sanctions on Iran to support its recovery following Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's "statement of anger, hatred, and disgust."

In his Sunday interview, Trump denied suggestions that his administration had allowed China to buy sanctioned Iranian oil, insisting that sanctions remained in place.

But he added that “if they do a job, and if they can be peaceful, and if they can show us they’re not going to do any more harm, I would take the sanctions off.”

Trump also touched on the Israel normalization deals called Abraham Accords, saying the Iranian threat had previously been a major obstacle to broader regional peace.

“Iran was the primary problem,” he said. “I actually thought we had a period of time where I thought Iran would join the Abraham Accords along with everybody else. And, frankly, they would have been better off than where they are right now.”

He added that new countries have shown interest in joining the accords following Iran’s setbacks, without naming specific states.