(AFP) – President Donald Trump said he was considering Wednesday whether the United States will join Israeli strikes on Iran and noted that Tehran had reached out to seek negotiations on ending the conflict. Speaking as he watched the installation of a new flagpole at the White House, Trump added that his patience “had already run out” with Iran and repeated his call for the Islamic republic’s “unconditional surrender.”
“I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” Trump told reporters on the South Lawn when asked if he had decided whether to launch US air strikes. “I can tell you this, that Iran’s got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate.” Trump mentioned that Iran had even suggested sending officials to the White House for talks on Tehran’s nuclear program in a bid to end Israel’s air assault, but added that it was “very late.”
“I said it’s very late to be talking. We may meet. There’s a big difference between now and a week ago, right? Big difference,” Trump continued. “They’ve suggested that they come to the White House. That’s, you know, courageous, but it’s, like, not easy for them to do.” When asked if it was too late for negotiations, he said: “Nothing is too late.”
Trump had favored a diplomatic route to end Iran’s nuclear program, seeking a deal to replace the one he tore up in his first term in 2018. However, since Israel launched strikes on Iran six days ago, Trump has moved in behind the key U.S. ally and is now weighing whether to employ U.S. military power against Tehran as well.
– ‘I’ve had it’ –
Trump issued a series of bellicose statements on social media on Tuesday, asserting that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was an “easy target” and calling for Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” Khamenei responded on Wednesday, stating that the nation would never surrender and warning the United States of “irreparable damage” if it intervenes.
When asked on Wednesday what he meant by his earlier statement, Trump replied: “Two very simple words. It’s very simple — unconditional surrender.” He elaborated, “That means I’ve had it, okay? I’ve had it. I give up, no more, we go and blow up all the nuclear stuff that’s all over the place.”
Meanwhile, Trump backed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue Israel’s offensive against Iran, noting that Iran has retaliated with salvos of ballistic missiles. When asked what he had told Netanyahu in a call on Tuesday, he said: “Keep going. I speak to him every day, he’s a good man, doing a lot.”
The U.S. president, however, rebuffed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer to mediate in the Israel-Iran conflict, stating that Russia should resolve its own war in Ukraine first. “He actually offered to help mediate; I said ‘do me a favor, mediate your own. Let’s mediate Russia first, okay? You can worry about this later,'” Trump remarked.
Iran later denied it had offered to send officials to Washington, stating: “No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House,” according to Iran’s mission to the UN in a post on X. The mission added, “The only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat to ‘take out’ Iran’s Supreme Leader.”
– Danny KEMP
© 2024 AFP
