Washington: President Donald Trump said that a deal with Iran may be close, even as he described extensive US strikes that he said had weakened the country’s military and leadership and accelerated negotiations.
“I do see a deal in Iran… could be soon too,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on his way back from Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
He said the United States was engaged in both direct and indirect talks with Tehran. “We are negotiating with them directly and indirectly. We have emissaries, but we also are dealing directly,” he said.
Trump linked the diplomatic push to recent military action, claiming sweeping destruction of Iranian assets. “We were gonna knock out 158 ships, their entire Navy, which we did… we knocked out their entire Air Force… most of their missiles,” he said.
He argued the strikes had reshaped Iran’s leadership. “It is truly regime change… we have a group… a new regime… people that we’ve never dealt with before that are acting very reasonable,” Trump said.
According to Trump, Tehran had responded positively to US demands. “We asked for 15 things and for the most part… they’re agreeing with us on the plan,” he said.
He also cited what he described as goodwill gestures from Iran. “They gave us 10 massive boat loads of oil… and today they gave us another 20 boatloads of oil… that starts being shipped tomorrow,” he said.
Still, Trump acknowledged uncertainty around a final agreement. “I think we’ll make a deal with them, pretty sure. But it’s possible we won’t,” he said.
Asked about the possibility of deploying US troops, Trump said Washington retained multiple options. “We have tremendous numbers of ships over there… I just have lots of alternatives,” he said.
He reiterated his firm stance on Iran’s nuclear programme. “I don’t want Iran to have a nuclear weapon… if they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it immediately,” he said.
Trump warned of severe consequences if Tehran failed to comply. “They’re gonna give up nuclear weapons… and maybe have a great country again. But if they don’t… they’re not even gonna have a country,” he said.
He also said regional allies had stepped up their response following recent attacks. “Saudi Arabia is fighting back hard… Qatar is fighting back, UAE is fighting back… they’re all fighting back,” he said, adding that the countries were “a hundred per cent on our side.”
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