President Donald Trump has shown that nuclear deals with Iran could emerge in the near future just a month after his administration revived its “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran.
Trump told reporters on Friday that the US was the “final moment” of negotiations with Iran and hoped that military intervention would become unnecessary.
“It's an interesting time in world history. But we have a situation where something is going to happen with Iran soon,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “You're going to be talking about it right away. Hopefully we can do peace deals. I'm not talking about it from strength or weakness, I'm just saying I want to see peace deals more than others. But others will solve the problem.”
Trump revealed that Tehran has sent a letter to Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is pushing him to agree to a nuclear deal, according to a clip released in an interview with FOX Business, which airs on Sunday.
Trump revives “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran
President Donald Trump has revealed that he has written a letter to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is attempting to negotiate a nuclear deal. (Office of Iran's Supreme Leader via the Associated Press)
“I would rather negotiate a deal,” Trump told Fox Business. “I don't know if anyone agrees with me, but we can do just as good a deal as if we won militaryly.”
“But now is happening, the time is coming,” he said. “Something will happen in some way. I hope for Iran, and I hope I wrote them, because if we have to go militarily, it will be terrible for them.”
Behnam Ben Taleblu, director of the Defence Foundation for the Democrat Iran Program, said Trump was thought to be “from good to bad, with all his options on the table.”
“But the president should be careful,” Ben Tareble said in a statement. “Tehran wants to set up a trap for him and buy time to sneak him up towards nuclear weapons, while leaning him into endless diplomacy used to blunt maximum pressure and undermine the reliability of American or Israeli military options.”
Trump's remarks also come days before the 18th anniversary of the abduction of FBI special agent Robert “Bob” Levinson, who retired from Iran's Quiche Island on Sunday.
Trump's latest employment and fire ranks the Iranian Hawks, just as a new president proposes a nuclear deal
President Donald Trump revived a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran in February, imposing severe sanctions on Tehran. (Iran's Supreme Leader/Wana/Reuters Office)
The FBI continues to provide rewards of up to $5 million for information that leads to Levinson's recovery, but the State Department has provided $20 million for such information and provides details of those suspected of being involved in his loss.
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Trump told reporters in February that Iran is “close” to developing nuclear weapons, but the US would stop “strong” Tehran from getting it. He also signed an executive order directing the Ministry of Finance to implement “maximum economic pressure” on Iran through a series of sanctions aimed at sinking Iran's oil exports.
“They are so powerful now, we're not going to get them nuclear weapons,” Trump said on February 4th.
Trump's first administration also adopted a “maximum pressure” initiative on Tehran, and issued greater sanctions and stricter enforcement for violations.
