President Donald Trump is not opposed to striking Iran’s nuclear facilities if necessary, but he said he is in no hurry to do so if a peaceful, diplomatic alternative is possible.
Trump made the comment during a White House press conference with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday, during which he was asked about a New York Times report that he “waved off” a planned Israeli strike on Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure.
“I wouldn’t say ‘waved off.’ I am not in a rush to do it because I think Iran has a chance to have a great country and to live happily without death, and I’d like to see that. That’s my first option,” Trump told reporters. “If there’s a second option, I think it would be very bad for Iran — and I think Iran is wanting to talk.”
Trump called the Iranian people “very smart,” “very energetic,” and “very successful,” emphasizing that he hopes the Iranian regime will be willing to “talk” and that it’s “going to be good for them if they do.”
“I don’t want to do anything that’s going to hurt anybody, I really don’t. But Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
The report referenced in the reporter’s question claimed that Trump intervened in the Israel Defense Forces’ plans to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities. His decision was reportedly made amid internal disagreement about how best to deal with the crippled Islamic republic — diplomatically or militarily.
U.S. envoys are now engaged in a series of discussions with Iranian counterparts, seeking to negotiate a peaceful resolution to diplomatic hostilities that have plagued the bilateral relationship for decades.
A mission led by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Iranian diplomats in Oman last weekend for “indirect” talks carried out by mediators. The White House characterized the meeting as “positive” and “constructive” in a memo.
The two countries are set to meet once again this weekend in Rome, Italy, where a more detailed discussion is expected to take place.
Relations have hit a rough patch over the central question of Iranian denuclearization.
During an interview earlier this week, Witkoff alluded to the idea that Iran would be able to retain uranium enriched to approximately 3.7% for the purposes of energy production. This would be an arrangement similar to that struck by former President Barack Obama.
Witkoff quickly walked that idea back via a statement on social media, asserting that “a deal with Iran will only be completed if it is a Trump deal.”
He clarified that “any final arrangement must set a framework for peace, stability, and prosperity in the Middle East — meaning that Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi disputed this notion the next day, telling the press that “Iran’s enrichment is a real, accepted matter.”
“We are ready to build confidence in response to possible concerns, but the issue of enrichment is nonnegotiable,” Araghchi told reporters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expressing frustration with the West’s tepidness in wrangling nuclear weapons capabilities from Iran despite the Israeli leader’s “overt and covert operations.”
The prime minister’s office published a series of statements on Thursday reiterating Israel’s opposition to Iranian nuclear development, pointedly accusing others of previously dismissing the concern.
“For over a decade, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has led the global campaign against Iran’s nuclear program, even when the threat was belittled and labelled ‘political spin’, and the Prime Minister was called ‘paranoid,’” the statements read.
“The Prime Minister has led countless overt and covert operations in the campaign against Iran’s nuclear program; it is only due to these operations that Iran does not currently possess a nuclear arsenal,” the prime minister’s office continued. “These actions have delayed Iran’s nuclear program by approximately a decade, thanks to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s persistence in withstanding great opposition both at home and abroad to his vigorous policy toward Iran.”
IRAN SAYS NUCLEAR ENRICHMENT IS ‘NONNEGOTIABLE’ AFTER WITKOFF FLIPS ON THE ISSUE
Netanyahu’s office made clear in its Thursday statements that its position has not budged. “As the Prime Minister has made clear more than once: Israel will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons,” it said.
Trump has complained that Iran has been slow in warming up to bilateral discussions, openly wondering if it is intentionally dragging out the process.
“I think they’re tapping us along,” he remarked on Monday.
Araghchi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday, delivering a letter from Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
“Regarding the nuclear issue, we always had close consultations with our friends China and Russia. Now it is a good opportunity to do so with Russian officials,” the foreign minister said of his appointment in Moscow.
The Kremlin, which has been stringing the U.S. along for months regarding an end to its invasion of Ukraine, is a key ally for Iran as a U.N. Security Council member with veto privileges.
Russia is also a signatory to the original Iran deal struck by Obama in 2015.