President Trump said on Thursday that it would be “very traumatic” for Iran if Washington and Tehran don’t reach a nuclear deal, echoing threats he made last year in the lead-up to the 12-Day War.
“We have to make a deal with Iran, otherwise it’s going to be very traumatic, very traumatic. I don’t want that to happen, but we have to make a deal,” Trump told reporters a day after holding talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
“We had a very good meeting yesterday with Bibi Netanyahu, and he understands. But it’s ultimately up to me. If the deal isn’t a very fair deal and a very good deal with Iran, it’s going to be a very difficult time for them,” Trump added.
The US president was asked if there was a timeline for a deal and said, “I guess over the next month … They should agree very quickly.”
Netanyahu said as he was departing the US that Trump was creating “conditions” that could lead to a “good deal,” though from Israel’s perspective, a “good” agreement would require Iran to impose limits on its ballistic missiles, a demand that is a non-starter for Tehran and likely designed to collapse diplomacy.
“The talks with Trump focused primarily on the negotiations with Iran,” Netanyahu said. “The president believes the Iranians now understand who they are dealing with. I think that under the conditions he is creating, combined with the fact that they surely understand they made a mistake the last time by not reaching a deal, conditions could emerge for achieving a good agreement.”
The Israeli leader also said he was skeptical that an agreement would be reached and laid out Israel’s terms. “I won’t hide from you that I expressed general skepticism about the quality of any agreement with Iran,” he said. “If an agreement is reached, it must include the elements that are important to us, to the State of Israel, and in my view to the entire international community — not only the nuclear issue, but also ballistic missiles and Iran’s proxies in the region.”
According to the Israeli news site Ynet, the Israelis have laid out several conditions for a deal with Iran: limiting its ballistic missiles to a range of 300 kilometers, zero nuclear enrichment, and an end to support for its allies in the region.
The report also said that while Trump and Netanyahu’s statements focused on diplomacy with Iran, the two leaders discussed military options and that Israeli officials expect the US will eventually attack Iran.
