US President Donald Trump said Iran would not agree to the kind of deal he believes is needed to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. The remarks were reported by Al Jazeera in an article published on August 18, 2026. Trump said Iran must not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons and asserted that the country would need a long time to rebuild its nuclear capability.

Trump said Iran’s nuclear capacity would take considerable time to reconstruct after previous US attacks. According to his account, those attacks mean Iran would require a lengthy period to restore that capability. The report did not provide further information about the attacks, their timing, or the current condition of Iran’s nuclear programme.

The president did not specify what terms or form of agreement he considered necessary. He also did not explain the basis for his view that Iran would refuse such a deal. The report included no Iranian response and did not describe any prospective next steps by the United States or Iran.