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US: Trump Puzzled Why Iran Hasn't Capitulated

Published February 22, 2026, 12:11
US: Trump Puzzled Why Iran Hasn't Capitulated

US President Donald Trump is puzzled as to why Iran has not “capitulated” in the face of the American military deployment aimed at forcing the Islamic Republic to accept a nuclear deal, White House envoy Steve Witkoff said. Both countries completed a second round of indirect talks in Geneva on Tuesday, mediated by Oman, amid a massive US military deployment in the Gulf, where Washington has sent two aircraft carriers. The US president is “astonished” by Iran’s attitude, having warned Tehran of serious consequences if it fails to reach an agreement, Witkoff told Fox News in an interview with Lara Trump, the American president’s daughter-in-law. “I don’t want to use the word ‘disappointed,’ because he knows he has many options, but he is surprised why they haven’t…capitulated,” he said. “Why, under this pressure, with the naval and sea force we have deployed there, why haven’t they come to us to tell us: ‘We assure you we don’t want (a nuclear) weapon, so here’s what we’re willing to do’?” Despite this pressure, “it is difficult to get them to that stage,” the US official admitted. He also confirmed that he had met with Reza Pahlavi, the son of the overthrown Shah, who has not returned to Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew the monarchy. “I met him at the president’s direction,” Witkoff said, without providing further details.