Trump says Iran expressed wish to seek peace, support for Gaza deal

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has always supported any initiative that entails ending the genocidal war, the withdrawal of occupying forces, the entry of humanitarian aid, the release of Palestinian prisoners and the realization of the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people," the ministry said.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterates that stopping the crimes and genocide in Gaza does not absolve governments and competent international bodies of their shared legal, humanitarian and moral duty to pursue justice by identifying and prosecuting the perpetrators and commanders responsible for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip with the aim of ending the decades-long impunity of the Zionist regime."

Tehran has backed long backed Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants who sparked the latest round of fighting with a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 which killed 1,200 and captured 251.

An Israeli ground incursion and air attacks have killed over 67,000 Palestinians and devastated the coastal enclave.

The combat ignited a region-wide conflagration pitting Israel backed by the United States against Iran and its armed allies in the region, but Tehran and its affiliates took heavy blows.

The Assad dynasty which was Tehran's oldest ally was overthrown by Sunni Islamist militants, Hezbollah in Lebanon was battered by a coordinated Israeli attack via booby-trapped communication devices while its leader Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated in a bomb attack and Iran itself was pounded in a June war.

Launched by Israel on June 13 after two months of US-Iran nuclear talks appeared to stall, the shock military campaign killed Iranian nuclear scientists along with hundreds on Iranian military personnel and civilians.

Iran retaliated with ballistic missiles and drones which killed 31 Israeli civilians and an off-duty soldier.

The United States joined the campaign with air attacks on three key nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan which Trump said had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear program.

An impasse over Iran's nuclear activities, which Tehran insists are peaceful, lingers.

Israeli officials have repeatedly mooted the possibility of renewed strikes on the Islamic Republic, which has asserted its readiness to confront any attack.

"Iran was about one month, maybe two months, away from having a nuclear weapon. And if I allowed that to happen, this deal would not have been possible," Trump told Fox News in a phone interview on Wednesday evening.

"It's a very much different Iran. And frankly, we've had some very good conversations. And as you saw, they blessed the deal. They put out a few hours ago a statement that they agree with the deal, and they blessed the deal," he added, without elaborating. "That's a tremendous thing."

Tehran had not published any official reaction to the announcement by the United States, Hamas and Israel that the parties had agreed to the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for a partial pullback of Israeli forces and the freeing of Palestinian political prisoners.

US planes and submarine-launched missiles attacked three key Iranian nuclear sites on June 22, capping off a surprise Israeli military campaign against the Islamic Republic which battered its arch-foe.

Tehran denies seeking a nuclear weapon, called the attacks illegal and has vowed to resist what it calls Israeli aggression. Still, officials have long said they would support any peace deal agreed by Palestinians.

Iran has backed Palestinian militants and armed affiliates throughout the Middle East it calls a "Resistance Axis" opposed to Israel and the United States.

"I believe if they had a nuclear weapon, there would be a whole different even if we made the deal, it would have, literally, a very dark cloud over it because of what could potentially happen," Trump added.

"And by the way, I believe Iran is going to be actually a part of the whole peace situation," he added.

The Commerce Department included two subsidiaries of US-based chip distributor Arrow Electronics Inc. on its so-called entity list for allegedly facilitating purchases of American technology by Iran-linked groups. It is unusual for units of a US-listed company to appear on the blacklist.

Arrow spokesperson John Hourigan said the subsidiaries in China and Hong Kong “have been operating in full compliance with US export control regulations” and the company was discussing the matter with the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS).

In all, BIS added 26 entities and three addresses to the list of firms that US vendors cannot sell to without government approval. US suppliers should presume requests will be denied on national security grounds, the agency said.

Some of the new listings stemmed from wreckage of drones recovered by Persian Gulf states and Israel, which investigators found contained US-origin components routed through the sanctioned firms. BIS said parts recovered from Hamas drones used in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel also traced back to some of the companies.

Part of wider campaign

The action is the latest in a series of measures aimed at constraining Iran’s weapons programs and its use of front companies abroad. Earlier this month, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 38 people and entities from Iran and China accused of advancing Tehran’s procurement of surface-to-air missiles and US-made helicopter parts. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington would “deny the regime weapons it would use to further its malign objectives.”

Those sanctions were also tied to the reimposition of United Nations measures on Iran under the “snapback” mechanism triggered by Britain, France and Germany in late September. The restored restrictions cover Iran’s nuclear, missile and arms programs, along with embargoes, travel bans and asset freezes.

Targeting financial networks

The US has also sought to cut off the flow of money to Iran’s armed forces and aligned groups. In September, the Treasury sanctioned four Iranian nationals and more than a dozen companies in the UAE and Hong Kong accused of moving hundreds of millions of dollars through oil sales and cryptocurrency transactions. Officials said the networks helped finance ballistic missile and drone programs, as well as groups such as Hezbollah.

The same week, the State Department revoked a sanctions waiver for Iran’s Chabahar Port that had been in place since 2018 to support reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, warning that firms operating there could face penalties.

“Groups in the resistance front are today stronger and more active than two years ago against America and Israel,” Behnam Saeedi, secretary of parliament’s national security commission, told Didban Iran, referring to militias backed by Tehran in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Gaza.

Saeedi dismissed US President Donald Trump’s peace initiative as unreliable. “Any plan that takes sovereignty away from the Palestinian people is doomed to fail,” he said.

Israel and Hamas reached an agreement on a ceasefire after two years of war in Gaza, with terms set out in a 20-point US proposal presented by Trump and backed by Egypt, Qatar and Turkey. The plan would see the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, the freeing of Palestinian prisoners, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from parts of the enclave, and the entry of aid.

Israel’s government is meeting later Thursday to vote on the deal, which is widely expected to pass. If approved, a truce will go into immediate effect and the release of hostages is due to begin within days. Families of hostages in Israel and residents in Gaza have already staged celebrations at the news.

While regional leaders from Egypt to Qatar hailed the breakthrough, Iranian state officials and media have so far shown little reaction to the Gaza agreement.

Iran’s only public comment came from government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani, who said Tuesday Tehran would support any lasting peace that benefits Palestinians. Trump said Iran had sent “a very strong signal” it wanted to see progress toward an agreement.

“The Secretary-General said the file of overthrowing the establishment was closed after the 12-day war,” Aref said, according to state media. He did not say when or where the meeting with António Guterres took place.

Aref’s comments appeared to refer to a meeting he held with Guterres in Turkmenistan in August.

When asked about Aref’s account on Thursday, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said he could not confirm that the Secretary-General had ever made such remarks. “I’m not able to confirm that the Secretary-General would ever have said that,” Dujarric told reporters. He referred journalists to the official readout issued on 5 August as an accurate description of what was said during the meeting.

During the 12-day war in June, Guterres wrote on X that he was “gravely alarmed” by the use of force by the United States against Iran, calling it a dangerous escalation and a direct threat to international peace and security. The conflict began with Israeli strikes that killed Iranian nuclear scientists along with hundreds of military personnel and civilians, and ended with US bombings of three key nuclear sites.

Aref’s remarks came days after US President Donald Trump warned Washington would bomb Iran again if it restarted its nuclear program. Speaking on Sunday at a ceremony marking the 250th anniversary of the US Navy in Virginia, Trump praised the June 22 airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites as “perfectly executed” and said Tehran had been within a month of producing a nuclear weapon.

“You want to do that, it’s fine, but we’re going to take care of that and we’re not going to wait so long,” Trump said. The operation, codenamed Midnight Hammer, hit facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan after an Israeli air campaign that began on June 13.

Iran says it does not seek confrontation but will respond if attacked. Aref said the 12-day conflict showed US forces could not achieve their objectives. “If they attack, they will be forced to beg for a ceasefire,” he said.

The comments follow the reimposition of UN sanctions on Iran under the snapback mechanism after Britain, France and Germany moved to reimpose measures lifted by the 2015 nuclear deal. Trump, whose administration is pressing Tehran to halt uranium enrichment and curb its missile program, warned Washington would strike again if Iran resumes nuclear activity. “You want to do that, it’s fine, but we’re going to take care of that and we’re not going to wait so long,” he said on Sunday.