Trump vows to end Iran 'slowly but surely' if deal isn't reached

French President Emmanuel Macron urged Washington and Tehran to reach an agreement as soon as possible on Sunday after meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.

"It is essential that an agreement between the United States and Iran be reached quickly," Macron said in a post on X, urging leaders to seize the opportunity.

"The priority must be the conclusion of a ceasefire and the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, without any conditions and in accordance with international law," Macron added.

"Discussions will then need to continue to achieve a comprehensive and robust agreement on the other issues, particularly on the nuclear and ballistic programs, and regional stability."

Macron also said that France stands ready to play "its full part, by helping to resume maritime traffic through the independent multinational mission established with the United Kingdom, by supporting nuclear discussions with its expertise and capabilities, and by contributing to the necessary establishment of a regional security framework, alongside the partners whose protection it has helped ensure in recent months."

The French president said stability in the Middle East must start with Lebanon and called for an end to military strikes.

"Nothing justifies the major escalation currently underway in southern Lebanon," Macron said.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that talks with the United States were ongoing but emphasized that any deal could not be judged before a definitive outcome is reached.

"We should not give importance to speculation, and we cannot judge the talks until we get to a clear result," Araghchi said, according to Reuters.

Araghchi's remarks came as President Donald Trump said on "My View with Lara Trump" that if Washington does not get what it wants from Tehran, the United States will either reach a good deal or "finish the job" militarily.

Trump added that if negotiations fail, "we'll end it a different way" and that it will happen "slowly but surely."

U.S. Central Command says American forces have redirected or outright disabled over 120 vessels as part of its blockade on Iranian ports Sunday.

CENTCOM made the announcement in a post on X showing U.S. forces landing a helicopter on a U.S. Navy ship near the Strait of Hormuz.

"U.S. Sailors guide an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter as it lands on the flight deck of USS Milius (DDG 69) during flight operations, May 29. Milius is supporting the U.S. blockade against Iran, which has redirected 118 commercial vessels and disabled 5 as of May 31," CENTCOM wrote.

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack is getting expanded duties from President Donald Trump to serve as special envoy to Syria and Iraq as the administration tries to forge lasting peace in the Middle East.

Syria, a longtime Iranian terrorist proxy battleground, has moved to make peace with the Trump administration and Israel in recent years. It has largely been moved in that direction with the guidance of Turkey, the northern neighbor of Iraq and Syria.

The announcement came as Washington remains locked in high-stakes negotiations with Iran and as Tehran’s Revolutionary Guards launched new attacks on separatist groups in northern Iraq, according to Reuters.

Barrack’s expanded assignment places him at the center of several overlapping pressure points in the region: the future of U.S. engagement with Syria, the stability of Iraq, Turkey's role as a regional power broker and the broader fallout from the U.S.-Iran conflict.

The move also follows earlier reporting that Barrack had already been playing a major role in Syria policy, including discussions involving Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the administration’s approach to Damascus.

Trump’s announcement landed during a tense weekend for U.S. diplomacy. The president has not announced a final decision on a proposed Iran agreement, and recent reports said he requested changes to a draft deal negotiated by his envoys, including tougher provisions related to Iran’s nuclear materials.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Eric Mack.

Rep. Darrell Issa, D-Calif.,  joined "The Sunday Briefing" on Fox News to discuss revised Iran peace framework, saying the U.S. ought to be seeking tougher terms.

Issa analyzed Iran's financial demands, namely that the U.S. hand over hundreds of billions of dollars in war reparations in payment for destroyed infrastructure.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent touted the success of Operation Economic Fury against Iran on Sunday.

Bessent appeared on "Sunday Morning Futures," telling Fox News that the U.S. economy remains resilient amid the war with Iran.

A key member of President Donald Trump's Cabinet, Bessent says Iran's economy is in shambles after enduring economic sanctions and attacks from the U.S.

President Donald Trump said Saturday that Iran has agreed to refrain from developing or otherwise acquiring nuclear weapons, a shift he described as a significant concession in ongoing negotiations while warning further military action is still on the table if talks fail.

Tehran has already agreed not to develop a nuclear weapon, the president said on "My View with Lara Trump," but he wanted to ensure they wouldn't be able to simply purchase one, either.

"So now [the agreement] says, 'We will not develop or in any way purchase a military weapon.' That's a big difference. So we're getting what we want slowly — very tough negotiators," Trump said. 

"It takes a long time. I'm in no hurry... if you're going to be in a hurry, you're not going to make a good deal."

He said an agreement was preferable because it would allow the Strait of Hormuz to reopen immediately, bringing gasoline prices "tumbling down" and preventing additional casualties.

But if Iran falls short of his terms, "we're going to end it a different way," he added.

The U.S. has destroyed the Iranian navy and air force, Trump said, accusing the media of downplaying American success in the region. He also expressed hesitation about wiping out the entirety of Iran's remaining military because of how long it could take the country to rebuild afterward.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Max Bacall.

U.S. Central Command released footage of Navy sailors operating aboard an aircraft carrier amid Operation Epic Fury on Sunday.

While operations have been more limited due to an ongoing ceasefire with Iran, the U.S. Navy still stands ready to ramp up attacks, officials say.

"A U.S. Navy aircraft carrier is essentially a self-contained city at sea. Roughly three football fields long, with over 5,000 Sailors on board, it takes the whole team — both above and below deck — to keep operations running smoothly," CENTCOM wrote.

Footage included in a post on X shows sailors carrying out all the duties aboard the vessel, from cooking meals to guiding aircraft on the deck.

Middle East Institute associate fellow Dr. Nazee Moinian discussed the growing influence of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran, as well as the country's dire economic state and the Iranian people's desire for change on "Fox & Friends Weekend."

Moinian said the war with the U.S. has helped to expose the "Mafia state" that is behind the regime in Tehran.

President Donald Trump's threat to "blow up" Oman if the Gulf kingdom didn't "behave" has exposed a rare rupture with one of Washington's most valuable Middle East partners — a country that has spent decades quietly serving as America's backchannel to Iran.

"The strait's gotta be open to everybody," the president said during a Cabinet meeting Wednesday. "It's international waters. Nobody's going to control it. We're going to watch over it. We'll watch over it, but nobody's going to control it. That's part of the negotiation that we have. They would like to control it; nobody's going to control it. It's international waters. And Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we'll have to blow 'em up. They understand that. They'll be fine." 

The remark came amid a dispute over the future of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil supply passes. The Trump administration has strongly opposed reported discussions involving Iran and Oman over a potential tolling system or joint management arrangement for the strait, arguing such a move would threaten freedom of navigation and give Tehran greater influence over one of the world's most important shipping routes.

The comments reflected a broader dispute over how far Oman should go in its efforts to engage Iran as the two countries discuss proposals related to the future management of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important shipping routes.

The Omani embassy and the White House could not be reached for comment on the underlying tensions or negotiations on the Strait of Hormuz.

Situated on the southeastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, Oman occupies the southern side of the Strait of Hormuz and has long pursued a foreign policy distinct from many of its Gulf neighbors.

While maintaining close security ties with the U.S., Muscat also has preserved relations with Iran, allowing it to serve as one of the region's key intermediaries. Oman helped facilitate secret U.S.–Iran talks that paved the way for nuclear negotiations, has repeatedly served as a diplomatic channel between Washington and Tehran and has played a role in negotiations involving Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

"Oman's role as the Switzerland of the Middle East has advanced U.S. interests," April Alley, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute, told Fox News Digital.

"They have facilitated numerous rounds of talks between U.S. and Iranians," she said. "They were also able to broker a truce between the US and the Houthis in the Red Sea. Their neutrality allows them to be quiet facilitators when adversaries are ready to talk."

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Morgan Phillips.

Hoover Institution senior fellow Victor Davis Hanson joined Fox News to analyze what President Donald Trump can do to put a deadline on Iran amid talks.

Hanson spoke with Fox News host Mark Levin, saying Iran is already playing a "strange" game with the U.S.

He argues that Iran views even its survival as victory, and is abusing U.S. military restraint in negotiations.

President Donald Trump says he is toughening the terms of a proposed deal with Iran, but says the U.S. remains close to the finish line on finalizing an agreement.

Trump made the statement during an interview with Fox News' on Saturday, speaking with his daughter-in-law, Laura Trump.

The Israeli military announced its deepest incursion into Lebanon in more than 25 years on Sunday with its capture of the historic Shaqif castle on Beaufort Ridge.

Brigadier Gen. Yiftach Norkin, Commander of the IDF's 36th Division, detailed the operation alongside other senior military officers. The operation centered on rooting out Hezbollah terrorists from the region even as Israel maintains claims of a ceasefire with Lebanon.

IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee shared images of Israeli soldiers walking in front of the castle on social media.

"Glory is not built with speeches, but with the impact of soldiers' footsteps. The control of Shaqif Castle is not just a military achievement, but a new shattering of the symbolism of the arrogance of the terrorist Hezbollah party, which threatened us with weakness only for its fortresses to crumble before our strikes.

Former IRGC Navy commander Hossein Alaei claimed he warned senior Iranian official Ali Shamkhani three days before the outbreak of war that a new conflict was imminent and could begin with a strike targeting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Speaking in remarks shared on X, Alaei said he had repeatedly argued that the United States had moved to what he described as "Plan C" and warned Shamkhani that "a new war is coming."

Alaei said he told Shamkhani that the plan would be to begin the conflict with a strike on Khamenei.

"I said they definitely have a Plan C and that the third war will begin with a strike on the leader," Alaei said.

According to Alaei, Shamkhani dismissed the warning and replied that such an attack was not possible because "they can't find the leader."

Fox News Brittany Miller contributed to this report.