President Donald Trump delivered a series of stunning remarks in a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times on Sunday, defending his emerging agreement with Iran, sharply criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and warning Tehran that military action remains on the table if negotiations collapse.
Speaking during a 28-minute phone interview initiated from the White House residence, Trump said his agreement with Iran would ultimately ensure that the Strait of Hormuz remains “permanently toll free,” allowing global commerce to flow freely.
The president also insisted that his decision to launch military strikes against Iran earlier this year, followed by a U.S. naval blockade after Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz, had fundamentally reshaped the Middle East in America’s favor.
In one of his strongest public rebukes of Netanyahu to date, Trump accused the Israeli prime minister of nearly derailing the negotiations.
“He’s a very difficult guy,” Trump told The New York Times. “And to be honest with you, he should be very thankful to us for doing this. Because if Iran had a nuclear weapon, Israel wouldn’t be around for two hours.”
Despite the criticism, Trump argued that his diplomacy had ultimately protected Israel from an existential threat.
Trump also issued a blunt warning to Iran, saying that if the current negotiations fail to produce a final nuclear agreement, military force remains an option.
He said the United States would either resume attacks on Iran or become “the guardian of the Middle East” in exchange for 20 percent of the region’s revenues.
According to The New York Times, Trump said negotiations are expected to continue Friday in Switzerland, where U.S. officials hope to begin work on a final nuclear accord.
While celebrating the breakthrough, Trump acknowledged that key issues remain unresolved, including the duration of any suspension of Iran’s uranium enrichment program. He suggested Iran could agree to suspend enrichment for either 20 years or possibly 15 years, while insisting Iran would never again be permitted to enrich uranium to levels usable for nuclear weapons.
During the interview, Trump repeatedly contrasted the emerging agreement with the 2015 Obama-era nuclear deal, arguing that his arrangement would permanently prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Trump also praised Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin for their roles in helping facilitate the diplomatic breakthrough.
The interview concluded on a lighter note as Trump, speaking on his 80th birthday while family members gathered nearby for a celebration, joked about the possibility of rain interrupting an upcoming UFC event planned for the White House South Lawn.
“This happens in wartime,” he quipped.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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0 Responses
Iran doesn’t want a nuclear weapon, it is very smart
But the truth is either does Russia or America, having a nuke is extremely dangerous, and anybody that uses it would be worse then Hitler and Stalin
In today’s world there are things much more soficticated and deadly then the bomb, there are weapons much more precise and much deadlier.
For example, Russia would drop a bomb on Ukraine, why is it to kill innocent civilians, no, it’s too kill his army and the generals, this can be done much more sufficticated and precise and faster and deadlier and more certain, with weapons that are known to all main countries with intelligence, dropping a bomb on Innocent civilians is out right murder,
So iran does NOT want the bomb, it knows the better weaponry that is in existence in today’s militaries, including Israel, the disrespect that comes from Trump is what causes them to discuss it. Now Israel is in grave danger from Turkey and Egypt, if the USA officially leaves Israel to it’s own, these countries including Saudi Arabia will no doubt attack Israel and finish them in minutes, we aren’t viewed as some exiled victims over there, Rather as the murderer etc… These countries would finish us off in minutes without the USA