Iran’s president tells CBS Tehran ready to talk, won’t accept coercion
President Donald Trump said Monday on Truth Social that he has offered Iran “nothing” to end the seven-month war. The statement rejected Axios and CNN reports citing unidentified US officials that he was willing to ease sanctions and release frozen Iranian funds in exchange for “concrete progress” on Iran’s nuclear program. “This is untrue. I offered them NOTHING,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Axios and CNN reported separately that Trump was willing to provide sanctions relief and free Iranian funds as part of a final deal on the condition that Iran showed “concrete progress” on the nuclear issue. Both outlets cited unidentified US officials.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards responded by calling Trump a “big liar.” Spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi said the characterization cited Trump’s statements on nuclear weapons and other issues. “The enemy (US) knows that Iran is not after nuclear weapons,” Mohebbi said. “Their issue with Iran is not its nuclear programme but rather its vastness, which they want to destroy.”
Iran does not have nuclear weapons and denies it wants to develop them, but argues it has the right to a domestic nuclear energy capacity. Trump has cited preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear bomb as a key goal of the war, along with ending Iran’s ability to attack its neighbors and creating conditions for Iranians to topple their leadership.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in an interview with the CBS show “Face the Nation,” said Tehran was ready for talks on its nuclear program and other issues but would not accept “bullying or coercion.” “Iran is not seeking war, but will defend itself against pressure, threats and attacks,” Pezeshkian said, adding that it had already agreed that “we’re not supposed to develop nuclear weapons.”
US and Iranian officials spoke separately with mediators Monday as part of a renewed effort to end the seven-month war, according to officials of both countries.
In other developments reported Monday:
Anthropic will caution investors that artificial intelligence could pose “catastrophic or existential risks to humanity” in its IPO prospectus, which could value the AI company at $2tn. The company dedicated almost a third of its prospectus to discussing concerns around AI safety. The Wall Street Journal reported separately that OpenAI has halted the release of its next AI model over safety concerns.
Trump will hold campaign rallies this week in Durant, Oklahoma, on Thursday; Mobile, Alabama, on Friday; and Vandalia, Ohio, on Saturday. The first two states are Republican strongholds. Trump has urged voters to turn out and pretend the president was at the top of the ballot this midterm cycle.
Pete Hegseth ordered the defense department to “protect and uphold the reliability of America’s voting mechanisms against external manipulation and disruption from foreign actors” in a September 22 memo. The order came as concerns about artificial intelligence are on the rise, but also as the Guardian reported that the Trump administration has spread misinformation about voter fraud. In July, Trump accused China of interfering in the 2020 election, which he lost.
Andrew Bailey said he is stepping down as one of the FBI’s two deputy directors after just over a year in the role — a short tenure that unfolded as he helped oversee several of Trump’s election-related investigations. Bailey was appointed in August 2025 to serve alongside Dan Bongino at a moment of sharp tension between the FBI and Justice Department leadership over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Pope Leo addressed concerns about artificial intelligence and the war in Ukraine during a press conference onboard the papal plane on Monday. Saying concerns about AI are not “fake news,” the first US pope appeared to criticize Trump, who called concerns about AI a “hoax” during a UN address last week.