Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – US President Donald Trump said Thursday a deal was close on Iran’s nuclear programme that would avert military action, sending oil prices tumbling, as he boasted of raising “trillions of dollars” on a Gulf tour.
“I think we’re getting close to maybe doing a deal without having to do this,” he said, referring to military action.
Oil prices plunged more than three percent following his remarks, on rising hopes for a nuclear deal that could see Iranian exports return to the market.
Iran has held four rounds of talks with Trump’s administration which has sought to avert threatened military action by Israel while keeping up its “maximum pressure” campaign.
“You probably read today the story about Iran. It’s sort of agreed to the terms,” Trump said.
The US president did not specify which remarks he was referring to, but an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ali Shamkhani, told NBC News Tehran would give up its stocks of highly enriched uranium as part of a deal in which Washington lifts sanctions.
Trump said Iran should “say a big thank you” to Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who had pressed the US leader to avoid military action against his country’s giant neighbour.
Abu Dhabi dance
In Abu Dhabi, Trump was welcomed by President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, with children waving UAE and US flags and women performing a traditional dance that involves moving their heads from side to side to make their hair “dance”.
Afterwards, he toured the opulent Sheikh Zayed mosque, the country’s largest, with its giant white columns and high walls adorned with golden moulding.
English-language Emirati newspaper The National has reported that the United States and UAE are working on announcing an AI and tech partnership during Trump’s visit.
The UAE is betting on artificial intelligence to help diversify its oil-reliant economy.
But these ambitions hinge on access to advanced US technologies, including AI chips that were under restricted export — which the UAE president’s brother and spy chief Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed reportedly lobbied for during a Washington visit in March.
Two days ago, Trump rescinded further controls on AI chips, which were imposed by his predecessor Joe Biden to make it harder for China to access advanced technology.
Trump estimated his “record” tour would raise between $3.5 trillion and $4 trillion.
He hailed what he said was a record $200-billion deal for Boeing aircraft from flag-carrier Qatar Airways.
Saudi Arabia promised its own $600 billion in investment, including one of the largest-ever purchases of US weapons.
Gulf largesse
The Gulf leaders’ largesse has also stirred controversy, with Qatar offering Trump a luxury aircraft ahead of his visit for presidential and then personal use, in what Trump’s Democratic opponents charged was blatant corruption.
Trump has made no mention of human rights during his tour.
Biden had initially vowed to shun Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over US intelligence findings that he ordered the gruesome murder in 2018 of Jamal Khashoggi — a Saudi dissident writer who lived in the United States.
Trump instead hailed the crown prince, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, as a visionary due to the kingdom’s rapid economic investments.
The president also acceded to a key request of the crown prince in announcing the lifting of sanctions on Syria following the toppling of Bashar al-Assad in December.
He met in Riyadh with interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the first encounter between leaders of the two nations in 25 years.
Sharaa — a former jihadist once on the US wanted list — appeared in a suit and was complimented by Trump as a “young, attractive guy”.
