An Israeli strike on the Islamic Republic ‘could very well happen,’ the president added, and ‘might help’ but ‘also could blow’ discussions
President Donald Trump told reporters that Iran must offer more concessions than it appears willing to make to reach a nuclear deal, then said the two sides are close to an agreement. He also said an Israeli strike on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities “could very well happen” and “might help” but “also could blow” ongoing discussions.
“I would love to avoid conflict, but they are going to have to give up things they don’t want to give up,” Trump said of Iran. “We are fairly close to an agreement, we are fairly close to a pretty good agreement,” he added minutes later. “It’s got to be better than pretty good, though.”
The remarks, which came during a Thursday bill signing ceremony that the Washington Free Beacon attended as part of the White House press pool, reflect the mixed messaging that has come out of the administration as it engages in nuclear talks with Iran. In addition to simultaneously praising and expressing doubt in the talks, Trump said he would oppose an Israeli strike—one that his administration is reportedly weighing how to support—but only if he thinks a deal is likely to materialize.
“As long as I think there is an agreement, I don’t want them going in,” Trump said.
The president spoke days before a scheduled meeting between U.S. and Iranian officials for a sixth round of nuclear negotiations amid an apparent impasse on uranium enrichment. He said discussions have progressed well and that he hopes to see an agreement rather than military action.
Though Trump professed that he would prefer to avoid a conflict, he said Iran is “going to have to give us some things that they’re not willing to give us right now.”
He did, however, say his administration has “had very good discussions with Iran” after claiming that the two parties are “fairly close to a pretty good agreement.”
Trump told reporters that he opposes an Israeli strike if a deal seems likely to materialize, saying, “as long as I think there is an agreement, I don’t want them going in.”
He said that he would rather see the Iranian nuclear issue resolved through diplomacy than military action.
“I’d love to avoid a conflict,” he told reporters. “Whether it’s going in or not going in, [Iran] can’t have a nuclear weapon. I prefer the more friendly path.”
Trump’s comments came a day after he told the New York Post in an interview that he does not know whether Tehran will agree to a U.S. proposal.
“They seem to be delaying, and I think that’s a shame, but I’m less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago,” Trump continued. “Something happened to them, but I am much less confident of a deal being made.”
“It would be nicer to do it without warfare, without people dying, it’s so much nicer to do it,” he said in the interview.
Also on Wednesday, Trump approved the evacuation of non-essential U.S. embassy staffers from compounds across the region, just hours before news of a planned Israeli strike came to light.
Iran’s actions this week contradict Trump’s claim that a deal is just around the corner. The Islamic Republic on Wednesday stated that it successfully tested a missile armed with a two-ton warhead, and Iranian defense minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said Iran would “boldly target” U.S. military bases “if conflict is imposed” on Tehran.
Iran announced Thursday that it would upgrade an existing enrichment facility and build a new site in response to an International Atomic Energy Agency censure resolution over the Islamic Republic’s “many failures to uphold its obligations since 2019 to provide the Agency with full and timely cooperation regarding undeclared nuclear material and activities at multiple undeclared locations in Iran.”
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