President Trump said on Sunday that any decision to end the war with Iran would be a “mutual” one made with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The president made the comments in a phone call with The Times of Israel, where he claimed that the US and Israel have “destroyed” Iran.
“Iran was going to destroy Israel and everything else around it… We’ve worked together. We’ve destroyed a country that wanted to destroy Israel,” Trump said.
When asked if he alone would decide when the war is over or if Netanyahu would have a say, the president said, “I think it’s mutual… a little bit. We’ve been talking. I’ll make a decision at the right time, but everything’s going to be taken into account.”
After the US and Israel first launched the war on February 28, Trump suggested it could last four weeks, but the timeline has repeatedly shifted, and there are signs that the US is preparing for a long, open-ended conflict.
The US-Israeli bombing campaign, which has killed more than 1,200 civilians, and the Israeli strike that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have not stopped the Iranian military’s response or fractured the government in any way, as Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, has been chosen as the new leader.
In his interview with the Times of Israel, Trump also praised Netanyahu and reiterated his call for Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon him. “Bibi Netanyahu should be given that pardon immediately. I think [Herzog is] doing a terrible thing by not giving it. We want Bibi to be focused on the war, not on a ridiculous pardon,” Trump said.
“Bibi’s done a great job. He’s been a wartime prime minister. We’ve worked together. We’ve destroyed a country that wanted to destroy Israel. Would have destroyed Israel if I wasn’t around,” the president added.
