Trump Says US, Iran Close To Nuclear Deal: "They Sort Of Agreed To Terms"

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said the United States was getting very close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran, as he warned Tehran that it was its only option to avoid military actions. Trump also indicated that Iran has "sort of" agreed to the terms of the deal.

Speaking in Qatar before business leaders, Trump said, "We'd like to see if we could solve the Iran problem in an intelligent way, as opposed to a brutal way. There are only two-- intelligent and brutal. Those are the two alternatives."

He, however, stressed that the US was not going to make any "nuclear dust in Iran." "I think we're getting close to maybe doing a deal without having to do this," Trump said, in reference to military action.

Iran has held four rounds of talks with the Trump administration, which has sought to avoid a threatened military strike by Israel on Tehran's contested nuclear programme. "You probably read today the story about Iran. It's sort of agreed to the terms," Trump said.

The American leader did not specify which remarks he was referring to, but an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ali Shamkhani, told ABC News that Tehran would give up stockpiles of highly enriched uranium as part of a deal in which Washington lifts sanctions.

Trump credited Qatar's ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, for pushing the diplomatic deal over Iran's nuclear programme and said that Iran should "say a big thank you" to him. Qatar shares a massive offshore oil and gas field with Iran, which is crucial to its wealth.

"I said last night that Iran is very lucky to have the emir because he's actually fighting for them. He doesn't want us to do a vicious blow to Iran...He says, You can make a deal. You can make a deal.' He's really fighting. And I really mean this: I think that Iran should say a big thank you to the emir," Trump said.

At one point in his speech, the American leader also mused that Iran "make good drones."

Since Trump's announcement about Iran's nuclear programme, oil prices have plunged more than three per cent. Brent futures dropped over $2 to under $64 a barrel, according to a Reuters report. Iran is OPEC's third-largest producer of Brent and pumps around 3 million barrels of oil per day (bpd), or around 3 per cent of total world output. However, it has been under strict sanctions since Trump quit the West's previous nuclear accord with Tehran in 2015.