U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his hardline stance on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, telling reporters Monday, “They cannot have a nuclear weapon. Iran has to get rid of the concept of a nuclear weapon.”
Speaking during a meeting with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, Trump said, “We’ve got a problem with Iran, but I’ll solve that problem, that’s almost an easy one.”
Earlier, aboard Air Force One, Trump said he expects a decision “very quickly” on the issue, ahead of a second round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks scheduled for Saturday in Rome.
Trump asserted that the Islamic Republic “wants to deal with us, but they don’t know how.” He continued, “I want them to be a rich, great nation. The only thing is, one thing, simple, it’s really simple: They can’t have a nuclear weapon. And they’ve gotta go fast. Because they’re fairly close to having one. And they’re not going to have one.”
“And if we have to do something very harsh, we’ll do it,” he added. “And I’m not doing it for us. I’m doing it for the world. These are radicalized people, and they cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
When asked if that “something very harsh” includes a potential strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, Trump replied, “Of course it does.”
Speaking further on Tehran’s approach to the U.S., Trump said, “I think they’re tapping us along because they were so used to dealing with stupid people in this country.”
Any nuclear deal with Iran will depend on verifying its enrichment and weaponization capabilities, President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said Monday.
“The first meeting was positive, constructive, compelling,” Witkoff told Fox News, referring to last week’s talks in Oman. While not calling for a complete dismantling of Iran’s program, he emphasized, “This is going to be much about verification on the enrichment program.”
“They do not need to enrich past 3.67 percent,” he said, citing the limit under the 2015 nuclear deal Trump withdrew from in 2018. “In some circumstances, they’re at 60 percent, in other circumstances 20 percent. That cannot be, and you do not need to run… a civil nuclear program where you’re enriching past 3.67 percent.”
If diplomacy fails, the United States, along with Israel, is ready to proceed with military action against the Iranian nuclear program as the Pentagon has deployed two carrier strike groups in the region along with the build-up of fighter jets, bombers, and support aircraft positioned near Iran. The U.S. also deployed additional air defense systems in Israel in the event a war broke out with Iran.
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