President Donald Trump has insisted that Iran “cannot have a nuclear weapon” as strikes have spread across the Middle East.
The US leader appeared to backtrack from an earlier threat of massive strikes and said that discussions had been going “well”.
“They are talking to us right now. They’d love to make a deal. I don’t think they’re ready to. I don’t think it’s time yet, but I’m willing to listen,” he said in remarks at the White House on Friday.
“But they cannot have a nuclear weapon. We don’t want to see Washington DC, or any of our cities, or Israel, or frankly the Middle East, destroyed with a nuclear weapons, because I know the power of nuclear weapons.”
Conflict has spread across the Middle East as Yemen’s Houthi rebel group and Saudi Arabia exchanged strikes overnight.
The Houthis claimed responsibility for an attack on the southern Saudi city of Jizan after targets in the Yemeni port city of Hodeida and a nearby island were hit by Saudi on Friday.
Accusing Riyadh of a “dangerous escalation”, they had warned the attacks would not go “unanswered”.
The Houthis have threatened a maritime blockade in the Red Sea, impacting Saudi shipping.