President Trump on Monday denied that the United States is seeking regime change in Iran, dialing back hawkish rhetoric days after ordering 1,500 additional U.S. troops to the region. ...

“We’re not looking for regime change. I want to make that clear,” Trump said at a joint news conference Monday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. “We’re looking for no nuclear weapons.” ...

Trump’s meeting with Abe on Monday focused partly on the possibility that relations between the United States and Iran could improve. Trump told reporters that Abe has a “very good relationship with Iran.”

That could set the stage for U.S. talks with Iran, Trump suggested, saying that “I do believe Iran would like to talk and if they’d like to talk, we’ll talk also. ... Nobody wants to see terrible things happen, especially me.”