U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he would approve additional airstrikes on Iran if it began enriching uranium again to levels necessary for the development of a nuclear weapon.
Asked during a White House news conference if he would consider bombing the country again if uranium enrichment levels became concerning to the U.S., Trump replied: “Without question. Absolutely.”
Trump authorized the U.S. military last weekend to strike three Iranian nuclear facilities before helping to negotiate a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, which had been fighting for 12 days after Israel first attacked Iran’s nuclear program.
The U.S. is now refocusing on diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the program, but no talks with Iran have been scheduled so far.
Trump said that due to the destruction caused by the U.S. strikes that “obliterated” the Iranian facilities, “I don’t believe that they’re going to go back into nuclear anytime soon. They spent over a trillion dollars on nuclear, and they never got it together.”
“You cannot let them have a nuclear weapon,” he added. “And that’s what happened. It’s been obliterated. It would be years before they could ever get going. And I really think it’s probably the last thing (they want). They have to recover from a hell of a tough war.”
On Thursday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed the country would strike back in the event of a future U.S. attack. Iran launched missiles against a U.S. military base in Qatar in retaliation but did not inflict any damage or casualties.
Khamenei also claimed Thursday that the war had been a victory for Iran in his first public message since the ceasefire.
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Trump on Friday called Khamenei’s statement “a lie” and claimed he had saved the Ayatollah from being killed.
“His Country was decimated, his three evil Nuclear Sites were OBLITERATED, and I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces, by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World, terminate his life,” he posted on Truth Social.
“I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH, and he does not have to say, “THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP!””
Trump also claimed he would no longer work on sanctions relief for Iran due to Khamenei’s statement.
“I wish the leadership of Iran would realize that you often get more with HONEY than you do with VINEGAR,” he wrote.
Although an early intelligence report leaked to U.S. media outlets reportedly claimed Iran’s nuclear program was only set back a couple of months, U.S. officials including CIA Director John Ratcliffe have since said emerging intelligence has confirmed the scale of the destruction means it would take years for Iran to rebuild the sites.
Intelligence agencies are continuing to assess the damage from the strikes and come to a high confidence assessment, a process that can take months.
Trump appeared to agree Friday that any talks with Iran should include demands that it hand over any enriched uranium it still possesses and halt any uranium production within the country.
“We’re a little early for that, but something like that, yes, we’ll do something like that,” he said.
He also said he expects Iran to open itself to international inspection to verify it doesn’t restart its nuclear program.
Asked if he would demand during expected talks with Iran that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) or some other organization be authorized to conduct inspections, Trump responded the Islamic republic would have to cooperate with the group “or somebody that we respect, including ourselves.”
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday that ensuring the resumption of inspections by the United Nations body was his top priority, as none had taken place since Israel began bombing on June 13.
However, Iran’s parliament approved moves on Wednesday to suspend such inspections. Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi indicated on Friday that Tehran may reject any request by the head of the agency for visits to Iranian nuclear sites.
In an interview on Iranian state television, Araghchi left open the possibility that his country would again enter talks on its nuclear program, but suggested it would not be anytime soon.
“No agreement has been made for resuming the negotiations,” he said. “No time has been set, no promise has been made, and we haven’t even talked about restarting the talks.”
The American decision to intervene militarily “made it more complicated and more difficult” for talks on Iran’s nuclear program, Araghchi said. He acknowledged those strikes caused “serious damage.”
—with files from the Associated Press and Reuters
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