US President Donald Trump told Fox News on Sunday that he has to make a decision on Iran and choose between making a deal with Tehran or 'finishing them off', in remarks carried by Breaking The News and reported in detail by Voice of Emirates. He also confirmed that the United States would not launch an attack on Tehran that same night, as diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions continued.

Source: Breaking The News via BizToc; Voice of Emirates, Oct 25, 2026

The 'no strike tonight' line, also reported by Russia's TASS news agency, came after US Ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack had answered 'Absolutely' when blogger Mario Nawfal asked him whether a strike on Iran was possible this weekend — a comment that had put Sunday itself in play as a possible strike window.

Source: TASS via Hatha Alyoum, Oct 25, 2026

Qatari mediators were in Tehran on Sunday as part of an effort to de-escalate regional tensions in coordination with the United States, Reuters reported, citing an official briefed on the situation. The identities of the Qatari delegation members and the Iranian officials they would meet had not been revealed, and neither had the nature of the messages and proposals they carried.

Source: Reuters via Islamabad Post / DNA News Agency, Oct 25, 2026

Sunday's Fox News remarks were the second time in two days Trump had put a strike and a deal side by side; on Saturday he told reporters a strike could come 'maybe tomorrow' — or a 'big, beautiful' agreement instead. Read: Trump says US could strike Iran as soon as tomorrow or reach a 'big, beautiful' deal

Trump added in the Fox News interview that Washington knows what is happening at Iran's 'Pickaxe Mountain' site, and said he had two different intelligence assessments regarding Iran while asserting that progress was being made in dealing with it, Voice of Emirates reported. The site, near the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, is described by Reuters as a heavily fortified complex of tunnels buried at great depth; Trump has repeatedly threatened to target it militarily, while Iran denies any nuclear activity there.

Source: Voice of Emirates, Oct 25, 2026, citing Reuters on the site

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei said his country had never left the negotiating table and that the exchange of messages with mediators was continuing, despite what he described as the United States' insistence on imposing unilateral demands. Baghaei said Iran was prepared to defend its territory and that the Strait of Hormuz was not secure, while denying Iranian responsibility for the situation and accusing the United States and Israel of military aggression — Tehran's own characterisations, reported here as its statements.

Source: Voice of Emirates, Oct 25, 2026

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi struck a similar note at a televised event in Tehran on Sunday, saying a resumption of war with the US and Israel would not change Iran's positions. Read: Iran's Araghchi says a renewed war would not change Tehran's positions

The April 8 ceasefire between Iran and the United States ended the most intense fighting, apart from sporadic exchanges in and around the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported via Islamabad Post. In June, Iran and the US reached a memorandum of understanding laying out a pathway to a permanent settlement, only for it to unravel as each side accused the other of violating it; Tehran has since called for a return to the accord. The US has meanwhile maintained a naval counter-blockade on Iranian ports, and Trump said on Friday that Washington 'may do another little Epic Fury', referring to the US-Israeli campaign on Iran that began on February 28.

Source: Reuters via Islamabad Post, Oct 25, 2026