President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States was getting very close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran, and Tehran had “sort of” agreed to the terms.

“We’re in very serious negotiations with Iran for long-term peace,” Trump said on a tour of the Gulf, according to a shared pool report by AFP.

“We’re getting close to maybe doing a deal without having to do this… there (are) two steps to doing this, there is a very, very nice step and there is the violent step, but I don’t want to do it the second way,” he said.

However, an Iranian source familiar with the negotiations said there were still gaps to bridge in the talks with the U.S. Oil prices fell by about $2 on Thursday on expectations of a U.S.-Iran nuclear deal that could result in sanctions easing.

Talks between Iranian and U.S. negotiators to resolve disputes over Tehran’s nuclear programme ended in Oman on Sunday with further negotiations expected, officials said, as Tehran publicly insisted on continuing its uranium enrichment.

The Trump administration gave Iran a proposal for a nuclear deal during the fourth round of negotiations on Sunday, a U.S. official and two other sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Axios.

But a senior Iranian official said Tehran had not received any fresh proposal from the United States to resolve the decades-long nuclear dispute, adding that Iran would never compromise on its right to enrich uranium on its soil.

Though Tehran and Washington have both said they prefer diplomacy to resolve the dispute, they remain divided on several red lines that negotiators will have to circumvent to reach a new deal and avert future military action.

In an interview with NBC News published on Wednesday, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran was willing to agree to a deal with the U.S. in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Ali Shamkhani, the adviser, said Iran would commit to never making nuclear weapons and getting rid of its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, agree to enrich uranium only to the lower levels needed for civilian use and allow international inspectors to supervise the process, NBC reported.

However, the senior Iranian official told Reuters that “the idea of sending enriched uranium above 5% is not new and has always been part of negotiations with the U.S.”

“It is a complex and technical issue and depends on the other party’s readiness to effectively and verifiably lift sanctions on Iran,” the official said.

Iranian authorities have repeatedly said that among Tehran’s red lines was reducing the amount of highly enriched uranium stockpile to a level below what was agreed under Iran’s 2015 nuclear pact with six world powers, which Trump ditched in 2018.

‘RED LINE’

U.S. officials have publicly stated that Iran should halt uranium enrichment, a stance Iranian officials have called a “red line” asserting they will not give up what they view as Iran’s right as a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). However, they have indicated a willingness to reduce the level of enrichment.

Iran’s clerical establishment is ready to accept some limits on its uranium enrichment, Iranian authorities have said, but in return Tehran wants the lifting of crippling sanctions imposed since 2018 and also watertight guarantees that Trump would not again ditch a nuclear pact.

Iranian sources, close to the negotiation team, said that while Iran is prepared to offer what it considers concessions, “the issue is that America is not willing to lift major sanctions in exchange.”

Regarding the reduction of enriched uranium in storage, the Iranian sources said: “Tehran also wants it removed in several stages, which America doesn’t agree with either.”

There is also disagreement over the destination to which the highly enriched uranium would be sent, the source added.

President Donald Trump kicked off his trip to the Gulf on Tuesday with a surprise announcement that the United States will lift long-standing sanctions on Syria, and a $600 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest in the U.S, Reuters reported.

The U.S. agreed to sell Saudi Arabia an arms package worth nearly $142 billion, according to the White House which called it the largest “defense cooperation agreement” Washington has ever done.

The end of sanctions on Syria would be a huge boost for a country that has been shattered by more than a decade of civil war. Rebels led by current President Ahmed al-Sharaa toppled President Bashar al-Assad last December.

Speaking at an investment forum in Riyadh at the start of a deals-focused trip that also brought a flurry of diplomacy, Trump said he was acting on a request to scrap the sanctions by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“Oh what I do for the crown prince,” Trump said, drawing laughs from the audience. He said the sanctions had served an important function but that it was now time for the country to move forward.

The move represents a major U.S. policy shift. The U.S. declared Syria a state sponsor of terrorism in 1979, added sanctions in 2004 and imposed further sanctions after the civil war broke out in 2011.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani said on X that the planned move marked a “new start” in Syria’s path to reconstruction. Trump has agreed to briefly greet Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, a White House official said.

Trump and the Saudi crown prince signed an agreement covering energy, defense, mining and other areas. Trump has sought to strengthen relations with the Saudis to improve regional ties with Israel and act as a bulwark against Iran.

The agreement covers deals with more than a dozen U.S. defense companies for areas including air and missile defense, air force and space, maritime security and communications, a White House fact sheet said.

It was not clear whether the deal included Lockheed F-35 jets, which sources say have been discussed. The Saudi prince said the total package could reach $1 trillion when further agreements are reached in the months ahead.

Saudi Arabia is one of the largest customers for U.S. arms, and the two countries have maintained strong ties for decades based on an arrangement in which the kingdom delivers oil and the superpower provides security.

But relations were strained after the 2018 murder of U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul caused a global uproar. U.S. intelligence concluded that bin Salman approved an operation to capture or kill Khashoggi, a prominent critic, but the Saudi government has denied any involvement.

Trump did not mention the incident during his visit and called bin Salman an “incredible man.”

“I really believe we like each other a lot,” Trump said.

Trump will go on from Riyadh to Qatar on Wednesday and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday in a trip that is focused on investment rather than security matters in the Middle East, read the report.

Several U.S. business leaders attended the event, including Elon Musk, the Tesla chief who has led a government-downsizing effort for Trump in Washington; OpenAI CEO Sam Altman; BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman.

Trump was shown speaking with several Saudi officials, including sovereign wealth fund governor Yasir al-Rumayyan, Aramco CEO Amin Nasser and investment minister Khalid al-Falih as he viewed models for the kingdom’s flashy, multi-billion-dollar development projects.

Bin Salman has focused on diversifying the Saudi economy in a major reform program dubbed Vision 2030 that includes “Giga-projects” such as NEOM, a futuristic city the size of Belgium. Oil generated 62% of Saudi government revenue last year.

The kingdom has scaled back some of its ambitions as rising costs and falling oil prices weigh.

Trump has not scheduled a stop in Israel, raising questions about where the close ally stands in Washington’s priorities as Trump presses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a new ceasefire deal in the 19-month-old Gaza war.

Israel’s military operations against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and its assassinations of the two Iran-allied groups’ leaders, have at the same time given Trump more leverage by weakening Tehran and its regional allies, Reuters reported.

Trump said it was his “fervent hope” that Saudi Arabia would soon normalize relations with Israel, following other Arab states that did so during his first 2017-2021 term. “But you’ll do it in your own time,” he said.

Netanyahu’s opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state makes progress with the Saudis unlikely, sources told Reuters.

Trump on Tuesday called Iran “the most destructive force” in the Middle East and warned that the U.S. will never allow it to obtain a nuclear weapon. He said he was willing to strike a new deal with the Islamic Republic but only if its leaders changed course.

“I want to make a deal with Iran,” he said. “But if Iran’s leadership rejects this olive branch… we will have no choice but to inflict massive maximum pressure.”

Iran will hold talks in Istanbul on Friday with European parties to their now-moribund 2015 nuclear deal, two European and an Iranian diplomatic source said on Tuesday,

The talks among senior diplomats come as both sides seek to position themselves ahead of an expected fifth round of U.S.-Iranian negotiations in the coming days, Reuters reported.

Earlier talks planned on May 2 were postponed with Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3, initially hesitant over concerns such talks could create a parallel track and hijack the negotiations pursued by the Trump administration that Washington says aim to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

But diplomats said they opted to go ahead because it was ultimately in their interest to maintain dialogue with Iran and reaffirm how they envisaged the parameters of a new nuclear deal.

Iran is also keen to hold the talks to keep its options open and assess where the European powers stand regarding the reimposition of U.N. sanctions, something Iran’s foreign minister warned them on Monday against doing.

Relations between the E3 and Iran have worsened over the last year despite sporadic meetings, against a backdrop of new sanctions imposed on Tehran over its ballistic missile programme, its detention of foreign citizens and support for Russia in its war against Ukraine, read the report.

Under terms of a U.N. resolution ratifying a 2015 nuclear pact, the three European powers could reimpose United Nations sanctions against Tehran before October 18, known in diplomatic circles as the “snapback mechanism.”

The European powers are not part of current negotiations between Iran and the United States, the fourth round of which ended in Oman on Sunday.

But the three powers have sought to coordinate closely with Washington with a view to whether and when they should use the snapback mechanism to raise pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme.

According to diplomats and a document seen by Reuters, the E3 countries may trigger a snapback by August if no substantial deal can be reached by then, Reuters reported.

The next round of talks between Iran and the U.S. to resolve disputes over Tehran’s nuclear programme will be held in the coming days after both sides have consulted with their respective capitals, according to Oman, which mediates the negotiations.