US President stresses in interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, suggests a deal with the Iranians can be reached: I want them to have a great country. They have great potential.
Donald TrumpSteven Hirsch/Pool via REUTERS
US President Donald Trump stressed again on Thursday that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
Trump made the comments in an interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News. Hannity asked Trump about the fact that Iran could be three, four, five or six months away from a nuclear weapon, and whether there is a scenario where the US or Israel would attack Iran’s refineries.
While Trump would not directly reveal his plans, he claimed that he could have had a deal with Iran after the 2020 election, had he won it.
“The only thing I’ve said about Iran—and I want them to have a great country. They have great potential. The people are amazing. The only thing I’ve said about Iran, they can’t have a nuclear weapon,” he stated.
Asked by Hannity if he trusts Iran to abide by a deal, the President replied, “There are ways that you can make it absolutely certain, if you make a deal, a certain type of a deal. And you have to verify times 10. Yeah. But they cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump then warned, “You know, if they get one, you’re going to have everyone else getting them, and then the whole thing is going to be a disaster. You know, I was dealing at the very end with Putin about the denuclearization of Russia and the United States, and then we were going to bring China along on that one, because they have much less than we do. China, believe it or not, is much less. They will have an equal amount in five years, six years. You know, they’re trying to get there, unfortunately. But right now, they have much less in terms of nuclear.”
“I was very close to having a deal. I would have made a deal with Putin on that denuclearization. It’s very dangerous and very expensive, and that would have been great. But we had a bad election that interrupted us, and that’s why I’m here now,” he added.
Trump’s comments aired hours after he told reporters it would be “nice” if the issues with Iran can be worked out without Israel striking its military facilities.
Asked by reporters whether he would support a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Trump said, “I’m not going to answer that” and added he would be holding meetings with various senior officials on the matter.
“Hopefully that can be worked out without having to worry about it. It would really be nice if that could be worked out without having to go that further step,” Trump added.
“Iran will hopefully make a deal, and if they don’t make a deal that’s okay too,” said the President.
During his first term as President, Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. In response, Iran has taken many steps to scale back its compliance with the deal.
In its latest step to advance its nuclear program, Iran recently informed the IAEA of its intention to “significantly increase” its production of uranium enriched up to 60 percent.”
Earlier this month, Iranian officials held nuclear discussions with representatives from Britain, France, and Germany. Both sides described the talks as “frank and constructive.”
The Biden administration sought to return to the 2015 deal and held indirect talks with Iran on a return to compliance, but those talks failed due to Iran’s insistence on the closure of the UN nuclear watchdog’s investigations of its nuclear sites.
Content retrieved from: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/402805.
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