President Donald Trump openly discussed military action against Iran just days before talks are set to begin on its nuclear program.
He upped his threats a day after he used colorful language to warn against ‘nuclear heat’ while saying Iran must relinquish nuclear ambitions.
A reporter asked Trump to specify his comment Tuesday that it would be ‘very dangerous’ for Iran if nuclear talks are unsuccessful.
‘Well they can’t have a nuclear weapon,’ Trump said. Pressed on if he meant military action, Trump responded: ‘Oh if necessary? Absolutely, yeah.’
Asked if he had a deadline with Iran, Trump responded, ‘Yeah, I do,’ but declined to say what it was.
He mentioned that the upcoming talks in Oman starting on Saturday were not the final deadline. The president emphasized that there is still a bit of time available, although it is limited. He stressed the urgency of the situation.
Expressing his stance on Iran obtaining nuclear weapons, he firmly stated that it is not something that can be allowed. He highlighted the importance of Iran’s prosperity but made it clear that nuclear weapons are off-limits.
‘I’m not asking for much. I just … they can’t have a nuclear weapon,’ Trump said.
In terms of dealing with Iran, he acknowledged the potential need for military action and affirmed that it would be undertaken if necessary. He mentioned Israel’s probable involvement in any military actions, with specific reference to their leadership role in such scenarios. The president emphasized the independence and autonomy of decision-making when it comes to matters of national interest.
In his final cryptic comment, he added: ‘When you start talks, you know they’re going along well or not. And I would say the conclusion would be when I think they’re not going along well. So that’s just a feeling.’
Trump has pledged it is ‘not after a nuclear bomb’ and even expressed interest to direct U.S. investment.
Trump’s comments came on a day he did a sudden U-turn and imposed a 90-day pause on his ‘reciprocal’ tariffs, while maintaining a 10 percent across the board tariff and hiking the tariff on China to 125 percent.
The episode revealed both Trump’s willingness to throw the global system into turmoil to achieve his goals, and his willingness to backtrack amid fears of a recession and trillions worth of market losses. He also signed orders directing the Justice Department to investigate Miles Taylor, who wrote a critical book under the pen name ‘Anonymous’ during his first term, and former cyber security official Chris Krebs, who vouched for the security of the 2020 elections during the COVID pandemic.
Satellite images have revealed the deployment of six nuclear-capable B-2 bombers on Diego Garcia, a British-owned naval base that has been critical during U.S. military campaigns.
Trump on Monday said the U.S. would hold top level ‘direct’ talks with Iran – while brandishing new threats and repeating demands that Iran could not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.
‘We’re having direct talks with Iran. And they’ve started,’ Trump told reporters while seated in the Oval Office next to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, himself a top Iran hawk.
The talks are set to take place in Oman, but Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, said the talks would be ‘indirect,’ amid longstanding tensions between the two nations.
The U.S. has avoided such direct talks for years. The Iran nuclear deal, which Trump scuttled after it was put in place under Barack Obama, was negotiated through multi-party talks.
‘I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious. And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with, or frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with, if they can avoid it,’ he added. ‘So we are going to see if we can avoid it, but it’s getting to be very dangerous territory, and hopefully those talks will be successful.’
‘And I think it would be in Iran’s best interests if they are successful.’
On Tuesday Trump ridiculed fears of climate change, then pivoted to the Iran threat, which he called much more grave.
‘We were going to be gone, we’re all going to be gone – the environment. No, what they have to worry about is the nuclear – nuclear heat. They don’t have to worry about environmental heat. They have to worry about nuclear heat,’ Trump said on an event where he called for deregulating the coal industry.
‘And if we’re smart, we’re working on that right now with others, having to do with Iran and some other countries,’ Trump said.
‘But that’s the that’s the heat you’re gonna have to worry about. You don’t have to worry about the air is getting warmer. The ocean will rise … within the next 500 to 600 years, giving you a little bit more waterfront property. They say this is going to these guys can handle that. The nuclear we have a bigger problem with, right?’ Trump said.
Iran claims its nuclear program is peaceful, but U.S. intelligence has long warned it was close to being capable of producing nuclear weapons.
