by Sharon Rondeau
(Jul. 3, 2025) — At an Iowa rally celebrating the passage by Congress of his “Big, Beautiful Bill” extending the 2017 tax cuts, raising the debt ceiling by approximately $4 trillion but cutting more than $1 trillion in government spending, President Trump announced that following the U.S.’s June 21 “obliteration” of Iran’s nuclear sites, the leaders of that country “wanna meet” to discuss a possible settlement.
Trump made the remark at approximately 8:50 p.m. EDT at the inception of what the administration has termed the “America 250” celebration leading up to the nation’s 250th birthday on July 4, 2026.
The festivities are being launched in Iowa, Trump said, which he said will host “The Great American State Fair.”
Prior to the June 21 bombings of the Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan nuclear-development locations, Trump had attempted to convince Iranian leadership to abandon, within a 60-day period, its decades-old ambitions to acquire a nuclear weapon.
Iran declined to accede to the administration’s “ultimatum” to “make a deal” and was “weeks away” from being able to launch a nuclear weapon, the White House claimed on June 19.
On June 13, Israel began a campaign of attacks against Iran, targeting the same three facilities and killing top Iranian military leaders, nuclear scientists and intelligence officials in what became known as the “12-day war.”
According to Axios on Thursday, “White House envoy Steve Witkoff is planning to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oslo next week to restart nuclear talks, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.”