US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would approve additional air strikes on Iran If he started to enrich uranium again at levels necessary for the development of a nuclear weapon.
Asked at a white house press conference if he planned to bomb the country again if the uranium enrichment levels were concerned with the United States, Trump replied: “Without questioning.” Absolutely. “
Trump authorized the US military last weekend to strike three Iranian nuclear installations before helping to negotiate a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, which has been fighting for 12 days after Israel first attacked the Iranian nuclear program.
The United States is now refocusing on diplomatic efforts to end the program, but no maintenance with Iran has been planned so far.
Trump said that due to the destruction caused by American strikes that have “erased” Iranian installations: “I don’t think they will return to nuclear. They spent more than one dollars billion in nuclear power, and they never gathered it. ”
“You can’t let them have a nuclear weapon,” he added. “And that’s what happened. It was erased. It would take years before they could start. And I really think it’s probably the last thing (they want). They have to recover from a difficult war.”
On Thursday, the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, promised that the country would fight back in the event of future American attack. Iran has launched missiles against an American military base in Qatar in retaliation, but did not inflict damage or victims.
Khamenei also said on Thursday that 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 said he had saved the Ayatollah from being killed.
“His country has been decimated, his three evil nuclear sites were erased, and I knew exactly where he was sheltered and would not leave Israel, or the American armed forces, by far the largest and most powerful in the world, put an end to his life,” he posted on Truth Social.
“I saved him from a very ugly and ignominy death, and he does not have to say:” Thank you, President Trump! ” »»
Trump also said that he would no longer work on sanctions on the relief of Iran due to Khamenei’s declaration.
“I hope that Iran’s management realizes that you often get more with honey than with vinegar,” he wrote.
Although an early intelligence report disclosed to the American media said that the Iranian nuclear program would have been given only a few months, US officials, including CIA director John Ratcliffe, said that emerging information confirmed the extent of destruction means that Iran would take years to rebuild sites.
Intelligence agencies continue to assess the damage caused by strikes and carry out an assessment of high trust, a process that can take months.
Trump seemed to be suitable on Friday that everything with Iran should include requests to present any enriched uranium that he still has and stops any production of uranium in the country.
“We are a little early for that, but something like that, yes, we will do something like that,” he said.
He also said that he expects Iran to open up to the international inspection to verify that he does not restart his nuclear program.
When he was asked if he would require expected talks with Iran that the International Atomic Energy Agency (AIEA) or another organization are allowed to perform inspections, Trump replied that the Islamic Republic should cooperate with the group “or someone we respect, including ourselves”.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday that guaranteeing the resumption of the United Nations inspections was his top priority, because none had taken place since Israel began to bomb on June 13.
However, the Iranian Parliament approved moves on Wednesday to suspend these inspections. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday that Tehran could reject any request by the agency manager for visits to Iranian nuclear sites.
In an interview on Iranian state television, Araghchi has left the possibility that his country will come into its nuclear program again, but suggested that it would not be any soon.
“No agreement has been concluded to resume negotiations,” he said. “No time has been ready, no promise has been made, and we did not even talk about restarting the talks.”
The American decision to intervene militarily “made it more complicated and more difficult” for interviews on the Iranian nuclear program, said Araghchi. He recognized that these strikes have caused “serious damage”.
– with files from the Associated Press and Reuters
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