President Trump and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Photo: Eugene Hoshiko/AFP/Getty Images
President Trump told a Tokyo news conference Monday he supports Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's efforts to potentially open a dialogue between the U.S. and Iran.
"I know that the prime minister and Japan have a very good relationship with Iran so we’ll see what happens. The prime minister’s already spoken to me about that and I do believe that Iran would like to talk — and if they’d like to talk, we’d like to talk also. We’ll see what happens ... nobody wants to see terrible things happen, especially me."
Why it matters: Both U.S. and Iranian officials have said they don't want war. U.S. officials have made repeated but unspecific claims of possible impending Iranian attacks. Trump's latest remarks strike a more conciliatory tone compared to when he tweeted last week, "If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran."
Go deeper: Why war with Iran is suddenly on the table