Trump says nuclear deal with Iran 'very close,' possible by Wednesday

Amid Iran's first missile strike on Israel since a truce took effect, US President Donald Trump said Sunday that his message to Tehran was simple: "You've shot your missiles — now stop and come back to the table and make a deal."

Speaking in a phone interview with Fox News, Trump said the attack "will not help" the ongoing negotiations. Fox News also reported that Trump said talks with Iran were progressing toward a possible agreement by Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.

Iran fired roughly 10 ballistic missiles toward northern Israel on Sunday, prompting Israeli authorities to close all schools in the affected area.

The strike marked the first Iranian attack on Israeli territory since a US-Iran truce took effect on April 8. It came in retaliation for an Israeli strike on key Hezbollah strongholds on the southern outskirts of Beirut, the Lebanese capital.

Trump expressed displeasure over the Israeli strike on Lebanon, telling Fox News, "There was no coordination with Israel. I am not happy."

An Axios reporter also posted on X, formerly Twitter, that he had spoken with Trump, who said, "Nobody was hurt by the Iranian attack. I hope Israel doesn't retaliate."

Trump added that if "Bibi" — his nickname for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — were to retaliate, "the conflict will just continue, as it has for the last 47 years or the last 3,000 years." He said the United States was "very close to a final deal with Iran" and that it would be "a good deal," adding, "I don't want this to blow it."

Trump said he would call Netanyahu "right now" to urge him not to retaliate. "Israel attacked and Iran attacked. We don't need more attacks," he said.

In a subsequent post on X, the Axios reporter cited a US official as saying Trump had spoken with Netanyahu. The contents of the call were not immediately disclosed. Given Trump's repeated insistence that a deal with Iran was imminent and his appeals for Israeli restraint, observers expect those topics dominated the conversation.

If Trump's calls for restraint are heeded, prospects for a US-Iran nuclear agreement could brighten considerably. But if Israel presses ahead with a retaliatory strike, the fragile truce that has held uneasily since April could collapse, reigniting the war and plunging the Middle East into fresh turmoil.