President Donald Trump said during a meeting of the Gaza Board of Peace in Washington, D.C. on Thursday that a decision on Iran would be made in the next 10 days.
Speaking before the board, the president touted his role in ending multiple wars, but stressed that Iran continued to be a “hot spot.” Trump said a decision on whether to strike a deal with Iran or launch a military strike would be decided shortly.
“We may have to take it a step further, or we may not. Maybe we’re going to make a deal,” said Trump. “You are going to be finding out over the next, probably, 10 days.”
The Trump administration has maintained a historic buildup of military assets in the Middle East, including two aircraft carriers and dozens of bombers and fighter groups, marking the largest buildup of U.S. military power in the region since the invasion of Iraq. Senior White House officials have stressed that they are still pursuing diplomatic talks with the Iranian government to prevent the regime from obtaining nuclear weapons.
“We have some other work to do, and we’re getting it done. Gaza is very complex,” he said before singling out special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, for their work alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top administration officials in leading negotiations on both Gaza and Iran.
“It’s proven to be, over the years, not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran,” Trump said. “We have to make a meaningful deal. Otherwise, bad things happen, but we have to make a meaningful deal.”
Trump additionally reiterated his “simple” red line for negotiations: “They can’t have a nuclear weapon.”
“You can’t have peace in the Middle East if they have a nuclear weapon, and they can’t have a nuclear weapon, and they’ve been told that very strongly,” he said. “They cannot continue to threaten the stability of the entire region, and they must make a deal.”
According to reports, the Trump administration has mobilized a large military presence and evacuated U.S. diplomatic personnel from the surrounding region to launch an attack on Iran as early as this weekend. However, senior administration officials maintain that the president prefers to reach a diplomatic agreement and will allow Iran time to return a counterproposal on a nuclear deal back to the White House before taking military action.
“There’s nothing more important than peace, and there’s nothing less expensive than peace,” Trump said. “You know, when you go to war, it costs you 100 times what it costs to make peace.”
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You can watch Trump’s comments in full below.