Houston: US President Donald Trump suggested that Israel’s strikes could help his administration make a nuclear deal with Iran.
Asked by media outlet Axios whether the Israel bombing jeopardised the negotiations, Trump said: “I don’t think so. Maybe the opposite. Maybe now they will negotiate seriously.”
“I couldn’t get them to a deal in 60 days. They were close, they should have done it. Maybe now it will happen,” Trump said.
According to the Axios report, Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call on Friday for the first time since the attack, Xinhua news agency reported.
However, the president declined to provide details about the call and didn’t want to comment on whether Netanyahu asked the United States to directly join in the operation, said the report.
In multiple phone interviews with media outlets on Friday, Trump repeatedly urged Iran to make a nuclear deal to avoid further Israel strikes which he warned will be “even more brutal.”
“They missed the opportunity to make a deal. Now, they may have another opportunity. We’ll see,” he told the NBC News.
“They can still work out a deal, however, it’s not too late,” he told Reuters.
“Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Friday morning.
The US State Department had notified Qatar and several other US Middle East allies hours before Israel attacked Iran, according to a Reuters report.
Trump also told The Washington Post on Friday that he knew Israel would strike Iran.
“I always knew the date,” Trump said. “Because I know everything. I know everything. I know everything.”
(IANS)
