Trump says Iran wants talks as US carrier group arrives

A US naval strike force led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was in Middle Eastern waters on Tuesday as Iran vowed to hit back against any strike and President Donald Trump said he believed the Islamic republic still wanted talks, the AFP reported.

- Agencies

Washington has not ruled out new military intervention against Tehran over its crackdown on protests, which according to rights groups saw thousands of people killed within days,

“We have a big armada next to Iran. Bigger than Venezuela,” Trump told the Axios news site, weeks after US military action resulted in the capture of the Latin American nation’s president Nicolas Maduro.

But he added: “They want to make a deal. I know so. They called on numerous occasions. They want to talk.”

‘Axios said Trump declined to discuss the options presented to him by his national security team, or which one he prefers.

‘Analysts say options include strikes on military facilities or targeted hits against the leadership under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a full-scale bid to bring down the system that has ruled Tran since the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the shah.