U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that negotiations with Iran are progressing positively and could produce an agreement within days, adding that a proposal under discussion would see Washington take possession of Tehran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
"I hear the negotiation itself is going very well actually," Trump told reporters, adding of a potential deal: "It could happen... over the weekend."
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump was asked whether a cease-fire involving Iran remained in effect following the latest developments.
"They did something, not a big deal. We got it. We nipped it in the bud very quickly, as we do with the greatest military in the world," Trump said.
Trump said that under a deal being discussed with Iran, the U.S. would get Tehran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which has been a major sticking point in negotiations.
Earlier in the day, Kuwait said that Iranian strikes killed one person, injured 63 others and damaged key facilities, including diplomatic missions, stressing it "reserves the full right" to respond to the attacks.
Despite the tensions, Trump expressed optimism about ongoing diplomatic efforts.
"I hear the negotiation itself has gone very well, actually very well," he told reporters.
The president said there could be progress in negotiations with Iran "over the weekend."
Iran is "pretty close to signing a paper," he said.
Meanwhile, Iran's foreign minister said contact between the two countries was continuing.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Lebanon's Al-Mayadeen broadcaster in an interview published by Iranian media on Wednesday that contacts with the United States had not been severed.
He said progress in the negotiations would only be possible once the war involving Iran and Lebanon had ended. In recent days, Iranian media, citing sources close to the talks, had reported that negotiations between the parties had broken down.
Confusion was also fuelled by statements from Iran over overnight attacks on an airport in Kuwait. According to official figures, one person was killed and more than 60 were injured.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) initially did not deny responsibility for the attacks. After Kuwait expelled Iranian diplomatic staff in response, however, an IRGC spokesman denied that Iran had targeted Kuwait, according to the Iranian news agency Tasnim. He said the damage had been caused by misdirected U.S. interceptor missiles.
For days, there has been speculation about the state of negotiations in the Iran conflict amid differing statements coming out of Washington and Tehran.
