US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States is not negotiating with Iran and that “something” will happen “fairly soon”, in an interview with NewsNation White House correspondent Libbey Dean, ANI reported. Asked whether negotiations with Tehran were ongoing, Trump first said, “A little bit, but we'll see what happens,” and when asked whether he was done negotiating with the Iranian government, he said: “No, I think we're not negotiating... we are going to have something, one way or the other. It'll happen fairly soon.”

Trump added that some people expected developments to take place after the US election, saying, “Most people think, seem to think it's after the election, and we're going to see what happens,” ANI reported. The US midterm elections are on November 3. Al Jazeera, reporting the same interview, said Trump described the war as “a little conflict against Iran” and said Washington was doing “very well militarily and financially” against Tehran.

“But I will say this: what we've done with Iran is amazing,” Trump said, according to ANI. “I think our sanctions ended the real deal over there. But we're doing very well militarily and financially against Iran,” he added.

Trump's remarks come as US and Israeli officials have been reported to have drawn up detailed plans for possible renewed strikes on Iran after the midterms — reporting Tehran has rejected as pressure tactics, and which Washington has not announced as a decision. Iran has previously warned that renewed attacks would bring a wider response, a warning attributed to Iranian officials in earlier reporting.