▲ U.S. President Donald Trump speaks before swearing in the new Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on March 24, 2026, in this photo released by AFP. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) Trump-Iran-talks

(LEAD) Trump says Iran has given U.S. 'very significant prize' related to oil, gas

(ATTN: ADDS more info in paras 10-13)

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, March 24 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Iran has given the United States a "very significant prize" related to oil and gas, as he noted that negotiations are in progress to end the war with the Islamic Republic.

Trump made the remarks during a swearing-in ceremony for new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, a day after he delayed threatened U.S. strikes on Iranian energy facilities, extending his deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial oil shipping route that has effectively been chocked off by the conflict.

"They did something yesterday that was amazing ... They gave us a present and the present arrived today. It was a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money," he said. "I am not going to tell you what that present is, but it was a very significant prize."

He went on to say that the present is related to oil and gas, not a nuclear matter, as he reiterated, "We are in negotiations right now."

"What it showed me is that we are dealing with the right people," he said.

Trump also pointed out that "regime change" came as a result of U.S. strikes on Iran.

"This is a change in the regime because the leaders are all very different than the ones that we started off with, that created all those problems," he said.

Touching on the U.S. negotiating team, the president said that top American officials are "involved" in the negotiations with Iran, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, and Steve Witkoff, the special envoy to the Middle East.

The U.S. diplomatic push came amid growing concerns about the economic repercussions of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran on oil prices and inflation -- key economic issues that could affect voter sentiment ahead of the crucial midterm elections where control of Congress is at stake.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Pentagon is planning to deploy about 3,000 troops from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East to back operations against Iran.

Officials cautioned that a decision to send ground troops to Iran has not been made, the newspaper said, noting that deploying the troops would offer Trump several strategic wartime options.

The U.S. military campaign against Iran, codenamed "Operation Epic Fury," is nearing its one-month mark as it seeks to destroy Iran's missile capabilities and its Navy, and deny it any pathway toward developing nuclear weapons.

The operation killed former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Feb. 28, its first day. In a show of defiance, Iran picked his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, to succeed his father.

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