On Wednesday, President Trump said reports about the US and Israel planning an attack on Iran were “greatly exaggerated” and insisted that he wanted a deal with the Islamic Republic instead.
“I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon. Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens, ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
“I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper. We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed. God Bless the Middle East!” Trump added.
A day earlier, Trump signed an executive order reimposing “maximum pressure,” referring to the name for the Iran policy of his previous administration, which involved tearing up the 2015 nuclear deal, imposing crippling sanctions, and assassinating Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
Trump claimed when he signed it that he was “unhappy” to do it and hoped to reach a deal with Tehran. He also acknowledged that Iranian leadership doesn’t seek a nuclear bomb, a fact that goes against the narrative always pushed by the US and Israel about Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
“There are many people at the top ranks of Iran that do not want to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
Writing for Responsible Statecraft about Trump’s comments, Iran expert Trita Parsi said he could not “recall any US president ever deviating from the quasi-official American line that Tehran is dead set on getting nukes.”
