Trump reveals talks with Iran amidst U.S. naval build up

Trump claimed Thursday that he has had conversations with unnamed Iranian leaders and plans to continue talking with them amid reports indicating the U.S. naval presence in the Middle East continued to build up. On the same day, Iran pledged to respond to any aggression while announcing a live-fire exercise for this Sunday and Monday.

Trump made the claim in response to a question by the media at the premiere of documentary movie Melania, the subject of which is the U.S. First Lady. "I have had and I am planning on it," Trump said when asked if he had spoken to Iran's leadership in the past few days, though not mentioning who he had allegedly talked to.  

"We have a lot of very big, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right now, and it would be great if we didn't have to use them," he added.

According to a Reuters report, the U.S. Navy sent an additional warship to the Middle East on Thursday. The guided-missile destroyer USS Delbert D. Black entered the region in the past 48 hours, the report said citing an anonymous official source. The BBC also reported that ship-traffic data from MarineTraffic showed the warship crossing the Suez Canal on Wednesday.

Ten U.S. naval vessels are believed to be deployed in the Middle East at the moment, including six destroyers, three littoral combat ships, led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. 

Official statements from Washington and Tehran took on a sharper tone on Thursday. "We will be prepared to deliver whatever this president expects of the War Department," U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said during a cabinet meeting.

Iranian Army spokesperson Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia said of the U.S. aircraft carriers that they have "serious vulnerabilities," during a televised interview with IRIB, Iran's state media. "If the enemy makes a foolish move, the response will be decisive and immediate," Akraminia added.

According to a report released that day by Iran's semi-official news agency Tasnim, the Iranian military received a batch of 1,000 "strategic combat" drones capable of striking fixed or mobile surface and airborne targets.

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) also scheduled a live-fire exercise in the Strait of Hormuz from Sunday to Monday, Press TV said.

Over 20 percent of the world's oil and natural gas passes through this critical maritime choke-point, as the strait connects the biggest oil producers in the Persian Gulf – including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait – to Iran.

The oil market responded to the tensions dial-up in the Middle East, with Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, closing with a 3 percent surge on Thursday to reach a five-month high at $70.71 per barrel.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike Iran since the country was hit by a wave of protests at the tail end of last year that carried through into 2026. He indicated that the U.S. would take action if Tehran were to resume its nuclear program following joint Israeli-U.S. air strikes in June targeting Iran's nuclear infrastructure.

Previously on Wednesday, Trump had urged Iran in a Truth social post to "come to the table" and make a nuclear weapon deal, or the next U.S. attack would be "far worse."

(With input from agencies)