ByGOLDIE KATZ, SHOSHANA BAKER
Updated: 
US President Donald Trump claimed that talks with Iran are ongoing, but are Tehran’s last chance to reach a deal with Washington “before decapitation,” while speaking with reporters in the Oval Office on Monday.

He alleged that Iran, with the backing of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, initiated the renewed talks because they “did not want to be hit” by strikes Trump claimed would have been the biggest attacks since World War II.

“They knew what was coming. It was going to come last night, and it would have gone on for a long time, and there’d be essentially very little left,” he warned. “This is the last chance for them to sign a good document.”

When asked where the talks would take place, Trump said that information regarding the location would be revealed on Monday or Tuesday.

“I mean, they’re going to go quickly, one way or the other. It’s not very complex,” he added when probed on his requirement for the negotiations.

 

Regarding the possibility of Iran charging tolls for commercial transit through the Strait of Hormuz, Trump asserted that he would not allow such fees to be imposed.

“I’m not going to let them charge. If anybody’s going to charge, we’ll charge… We have total control,” he claimed, touting the success of the US’s ongoing blockade of Iranian ports along the waterway.

Trump slams Iranian leadership as ‘unbelievably duplicitous’

Earlier on Monday, Trump criticized Iran’s leadership for being “unbelievably duplicitous” and accused them of being dishonest regarding the status of US-Iran negotiations in a post on Truth Social.

“They ask for a meeting… talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about,” Trump lamented.
 

He added that “nothing gets through to Iran, unless we want it to, and nothing will get through, unless a deal, or total surrender, is accomplished.”

Trump also disputed Iranian claims of controlling the Strait of Hormuz, asserting that the waterway is “already completely controlled by the United States Navy.”

Rewed negotiations between the US and Iran 

Trump announced renewed negotiations between the US and Iran while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday.

He also stated that military strikes against Iran over the weekend were called off after Saudi Arabian, Emirati, and Qatari negotiators called him and said that they thought that “a deal was imminent, both regarding the Hormuz Strait, and ultimately, the denuclearization of Iran.”

“When I heard that, I said, ‘Well, do we want to go and be this severe?’” Trump asked, adding, “There is a group of people that would like me to just [go ahead with the strikes], and there’s another group of people that does not want me to do it.”

The president told reporters that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud had asked him to hold off on striking Iran because the outcome of an attack would be unpredictable and could cause “a lot of bad things.”

Esther Davis contributed to this report.