TEHRAN – While speaking to reporters during his Oval Office meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, U.S. President Donald Trump told one lie and one half-truth about Iran. The lie was egregious, and the partial truth carried little persuasive weight.

The falsehood was his claim that the United States was actively negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program. 

“We’re talking to them,” he said when asked whether he believed Iran wanted to sign a new agreement with Washington.

Earlier this year, efforts were underway to craft a new nuclear accord to replace the 2015 Iran deal — which Trump had abandoned during his first term. Iranian officials indicated they were prepared to reassure Americans that they were not pursuing nuclear weapons if sanctions — reimposed after Washington’s withdrawal from the JCPOA — were lifted. They also insisted Iran would not cease uranium enrichment. Reports suggested, however, that Tehran might be willing to offer greater concessions than it did under the JCPOA, so Trump would end up with a better pact than he had dismantled. 

Those negotiations were rendered moot when they abruptly halted on June 13, the day the U.S. assisted Israel in launching a 12‑day bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear, civilian, and military infrastructure. A sixth round of nuclear talks had been scheduled to take place in Oman only days later, on June 15. Trump later confessed was "in charge of" the war, and during his meeting with Bin Salman, the president said he had done the "right thing". 

Trump’s claim that he was again in talks with Iranian officials was almost immediately repudiated by Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei. “There is no process of negotiation between Iran and the United States,” Baghaei told reporters in Tehran. “As the foreign minister [Abbas Araghchi] has said many times, talking to a side that does not believe in mutual respect and takes pride in military aggression against Iran has no logical justification,” he added.

The half‑truth Trump offered on Tuesday was that Iranians want a deal. “It would be a nice thing to have a deal with Iran,” he said, adding that Tehran wanted a deal “very badly.”

It is, in fact, obvious that Iran favors an agreement, said Amir‑Ali Abolfath, an expert on American affairs.

"Iran signed the JCPOA, asked the U.S. to return to it after Trump withdrew, engaged in several rounds of revival talks with the European signatories, and even began new negotiations with Washington this year. It wouldn't have done all this if it did not want a deal," he explained. "Where Iran and the U.S. disagree is not whether an agreement should be signed, but what provisions it must contain."

"The U.S. continues to insist that Iran cease uranium enrichment. It is also now demanding that Iran negotiate limits on its missile program. Both of these demands are non‑starters for Iran," Abolfath said.

But why does Trump feel the need to lie about his contacts with Iran and present the obvious as a diplomatic triumph? The answer may lie in his frustration and the realization that he cannot change the situation: he cannot make Iranians yield, nor can he revise his Iran policy to secure a genuine win‑win outcome.

"When it comes to West Asia, U.S. policy is dictated by Israel. Israel wants pressure to remain on Iran and hopes that one day it can topple the Islamic Republic and fragment the country," said Foad Izadi, a professor of American studies at the University of Tehran, during an IRIB news segment. "It may not be in Washington's interests to confront Iran and maintain hostile relations. But Trump can't change course even if he starts to believe in this.”