US President Donald Trump said there would be “no deal” with Iran if it continues to pursue a nuclear weapon and said the conflict could end “fairly soon,” in an interview aired on Wednesday on Fox Business.
“They cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “If they don’t, we’re not making a deal.”
Trump said US forces had inflicted heavy damage on Iran, adding: “Everything’s been wiped out… They have no air force… no radar.”
He described Iran’s current leadership as “a new regime” and “pretty reasonable by comparison,” while saying the final outcome of the conflict remains uncertain.
“It only matters the end result… and maybe it’ll happen fairly soon,” he said.
Trump also said the United States has the capability to strike Iran’s infrastructure but does not want to escalate further.
“We could take out every one of their bridges in one hour… every one of their power plants,” he said, adding: “We don’t want to do that.”
He said he had not received pushback from other countries over US actions in the region, including moves affecting the Strait of Hormuz.
'Iran must be stopped from getting nuclear weapon'
Trump added that Iran must be prevented from obtaining a nuclear weapon and warn
“You cannot do it. You cannot give Iran a nuclear weapon,” Trump said, adding: “The world will blow up.”
He said the situation could be resolved soon and linked progress in the conflict to lower energy prices.
“Maybe almost immediately… it could be very soon,” he said.
Trump said earlier intervention would have been easier and criticized the nuclear deal reached under Barack Obama.
“That was the worst deal ever made… I terminated it,” he said.
He added that US military action had delayed Iran’s nuclear progress, saying Tehran would otherwise have been close to obtaining a weapon.
“They would have had a nuclear weapon… and they would have used it,” Trump said.
Trump says Xi denies China supplying weapons to Iran
Trump said China’s leader Xi Jinping told him Beijing is not supplying weapons to Iran, following reports of such transfers.
Trump said he wrote to Xi after hearing claims that China was providing arms to Tehran.
“I wrote him a letter asking him not to do that,” Trump said, adding that Xi responded, “saying that essentially he’s not doing that.”
Trump said the exchange would not affect broader discussions between the two sides.
