Middle East
07:10 PM | 23 May 2026
50-50... Trump: A good deal or a harsh blow
Fady Mahouly
US President Donald Trump revealed that he will meet, on Saturday, with his envoys to discuss the latest Iranian response, likely to make a decision by Sunday on resuming the war or proceeding with an agreement with Tehran.
Trump said, in an interview with Axios, that the chances of reaching a “good” agreement with Iran or “bombing it to the end” seem “50/50,” adding: “I think one of two things will happen: Either I will hit them harder than they have ever been exposed before, or we will sign a good agreement.”
He explained that he would meet with US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, with Vice President J.D. Vance joining the meeting.
According to the report, Pakistani Army Commander Field Marshal Asim Munir left Tehran after meetings with Iranian officials, as part of a mediation aimed at pushing negotiations towards an agreement, while Pakistan announced that it had achieved “encouraging progress towards a final understanding.”
Trump indicated that any agreement must include the issue of uranium enrichment and the fate of the current Iranian stockpile, although these issues may not be completely resolved within the “letter of intent” that the two parties are currently discussing, which stipulates stopping the war and entering into detailed negotiations that will last 30 days.
Trump also denied that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was concerned about the possibility of Washington concluding an inappropriate agreement with Iran, saying that some parties “prefer the agreement, while others prefer resuming the war.”