US President Donald Trump said Friday evening that he sees no urgency to reach an agreement with Iran, citing the difficult situation facing the Iranian regime as negotiations between Washington and Tehran continue.
Trump made the remarks during an Oval Office meeting with Stephen Hubbard, an American citizen recently released from prison in Russia.
Asked by a reporter for further details about the talks with Iran, Trump replied: "There are talks. They want to talk. They keep talking, but look, they're not paying their soldiers. They're not paying their police officers. You know, they're in big trouble, and we have time."
The president also dismissed criticism of the financial costs of the US military campaign against Iran.
"I heard somebody say we're wasting money," he said. "I spent a lot of money to get rid of nuclear weapons, and that's what we did. But every dollar we spent in Iran, we got back many times over through what we did in Venezuela."
Trump added: "Frankly, it's a war, but it's not a typical war. We've been there for seven months. We're spending very little money, relatively speaking."
Trump also claimed that US operations in Venezuela had generated hundreds of billions of dollars for the United States, although he offered no figures to substantiate the claim.
Trump says Iran war could end soon, insists on nuclear guarantees
Despite dismissing concerns over the cost of the military campaign, Trump suggested that the conflict with Iran could soon come to an end, while reiterating his demand that Tehran be prevented from acquiring nuclear weapons.
During an interview with Kansas City radio station KCMO, just days before the November 3 midterm elections, Trump said the war "It's going to get wrapped up soon," adding, "We need a guarantee there'll never be a nuclear weapon."
Trump had previously said the US would not launch further strikes against Iran before the elections.
Qatar submits proposal to Iran to end the war
Trump's remarks come amid renewed diplomatic efforts to prevent another round of US strikes on Iran.
Qatari mediators arrived in Tehran on Friday to meet with senior Iranian officials as part of an initiative coordinated with Washington.
Qatar presented Iran with a draft proposal to end the war on Sunday, but a senior Iranian official rejected it, saying the terms were unacceptable to Tehran.
The central disagreement concerns the sequence of negotiations. Washington insists that Iran's nuclear program be discussed from the outset, while Tehran is demanding that the US lift its blockade of Iranian ports and remove sanctions on Iranian oil exports before the talks can move forward.
The diplomatic efforts also follow a letter from US Vice President JD Vance to Mohsen Rezaei, a senior Iranian regime official, delivered through Qatari mediators.
The letter was intended to explore the possibility of resuming direct negotiations, although Trump said Thursday that it concerned the delivery of medical equipment to Iran.
Trump defends Russia sanctions decision amid Iran negotiations
Trump's comments Friday suggest that Washington believes time is on its side as Iran faces mounting economic pressure.
However, the president announced no breakthrough in the talks and made no commitment to refrain from further military action.
Later in the Oval Office meeting, Trump addressed the negotiations that led to Hubbard's release from Russia, defending his decision not to impose additional sanctions on Moscow while those talks were underway.
Trump argued that imposing sanctions at that stage could have jeopardized Hubbard's release.