Trump Won't Liquidate Iran Assets Until Peace Deal Is Reached

JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump said in an interview with NBC News' "Meet the Press" that he would not liquidate Iranian assets or lift any sanctions before a peace deal was reached.

Trump said he would consider such steps after an agreement is reached.

"That will happen afterwards," he said, citing Al Arabiya from Reuters (7/6).

"Yes. If they behave well, if they do a good job, we start talking. Yes," he said.

Trump also said he was not demanding that Lebanon be part of a short-term deal with Tehran.

"I think they want to see it, but I'm not demanding," he said in an interview recorded on Friday.

It is known that US and Israeli forces began attacking Iran on February 28. The Trump administration has been trying to negotiate a potential peace deal for weeks. "We are very close to an agreement, or I will destroy them," Trump told NBC News.

The president also said he was willing to speak to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since being wounded in a US strike early in the conflict.

"I don't want to say whether I know where he is or not, but there's a good chance that I do," Trump said.

Senior Trump administration officials such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio have insisted the interim cease-fire remains in place despite the recent US attacks on Iran, telling lawmakers last week it was a defensive measure.