US Presidential candidate Donald Trump on Thursday said Washington must come to an agreement with Iran, in a seeming departure from his hardline stance toward its main adversary in the Middle East.

Asked by reporters whether he might be receptive to reviving negotiations with the Islamic Republic over its disputed nuclear program, Trump said a deal was essential.

“Sure, I would do that,” Trump said. “We have to make a deal, because the consequences are impossible. We have to make a deal.”

Trump, a business mogul, has repeatedly expressed his preference for deals with Washington's opponents but his comments come as tensions in the Mideast have ramped up and his campaign said Iran has made threats on his life.

Earlier this week, Trump's campaign said US security agencies had briefed him on threats to the former president's life.

The Islamic Republic is outspoken in reviling Trump after he authorized the assassination of one of its top military commanders in Iraq in January 2020 and after his administration pulled out of an multilateral nuclear deal with Iran inked by his predecessor.

Trump said on Wednesday that the United States should threaten to bomb countries "to smithereens" which seek the assassination of US leaders in the wake of the alleged Iranian plot.