Trump says Iran wants deal, US 'armada' larger than in Venezuela raid

President Donald Trump said on Thursday he believed Tehran wanted to make a deal to avoid military action, adding that the United States "armada" near Iran was bigger than the one he dispatched to topple Venezuela's leader.

"We have a large armada, flotilla, call it whatever you want, heading toward Iran right now, even larger than what we had in Venezuela," the Republican president told reporters in the Oval Office.

"Hopefully we'll make a deal. If we do make a deal, that's good. If we don't make a deal, we'll see what happens."

Asked if he had given Iran a deadline to make a deal on its nuclear programme, ballistic missiles and other issues, Trump said "yeah I have" but added that "only they know for sure" what it was.

Trump, however, cited what he said was Iran's decision to halt executions of protesters — after a crackdown in which rights groups say more than 6,000 people were killed — as evidence to show Tehran was ready to comply.

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"I can say this, they do want to make a deal," Trump said.

Trump declined to say whether, if Iran did not reach a deal, he planned a repeat of the dramatic operation in Venezuela in which US forces captured president Nicolas Maduro.

"I don't want to talk about anything having to do with what I'm doing militarily," he said.

Iran open to ‘fair’ US talks, but defence capabilities off limits

Earlier, Iran said it was prepared for the resumption of talks with the US, but they should be fair and not include Iran's defence capabilities as regional powers work to prevent military conflict between the two foes.

Trump said a day ago he planned to speak with Iran, even as the US sent another warship to the Middle East and the Pentagon chief said the military would be ready to carry out whatever the president decided.

US-Iranian tensions have soared in recent weeks after a on protests across Iran by its clerical authorities.

One of the main US demands as a condition for resuming talks with Iran is curbing its missile programme, a senior Iranian official told Reuters last week. Iran rejects that demand.

Speaking at a press conference in Istanbul after talks with his Turkish counterpart, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was ready to participate in "fair and equitable" negotiations, but added there were currently no meetings with US officials arranged.

"Iran has no problem with negotiations, but negotiations cannot take place under the shadow of threats. They must certainly set aside their threats and change their approach toward a fair and equitable negotiation, as Trump himself said in his post," he said.

"I should also state unequivocally that Iran's defensive and missile capabilities — and Iran's missiles — will never be the subject of any negotiations," he added.

"We will preserve and expand our defensive capabilities to whatever extent is necessary to defend the country," Araghchi said.

Regional allies, including Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, have been engaging in diplomatic efforts to prevent a military confrontation between Washington and Tehran.

In response to US threats of military action, Araghchi said Tehran was ready for either negotiations or warfare, and also ready to engage with regional countries to promote stability and peace.

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Araghchi and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said they had been speaking to each other almost every day to discuss the tensions.

Turkey ready to be ‘facilitator’

US officials say Trump his options but has not decided whether to strike Iran.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene if Iran continued to kill protesters in its crackdown on the countrywide demonstrations over economic privations and political repression, but the protests have since abated.

Israel's Ynet news website said on Friday that a US Navy destroyer had docked at the Israeli port of Eilat.

NATO member Turkiye shares a border with Iran and opposes any foreign intervention there. It has called for US-Iran dialogue to avoid further destabilisation and has been in touch with both sides to seek a solution.

Earlier on Friday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in a call that Ankara was ready to play a "facilitator" role between the sides.