Trump wants ‘total dismantlement’ of Iran nukes, open to civilian nuclear energy program

“Civilian energy, it’s called. But you know, civilian energy often leads to military wars,” the president said.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

In an interview on NBC‘s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, US President Donald Trump stated that his goal was a “total dismantlement” of Iran’s nuclear weapons program, adding, however, that he was open to allowing civilian nuclear energy.

“I think that I would be open to hearing it, you know?” Trump told interviewer Kristen Welker regarding the possibility of Iran developing a civilian nuclear energy program.

“Civilian energy, it’s called. But you know, civilian energy often leads to military wars. And we don’t want to have them to have a nuclear weapon. It’s a very simple deal,” he said.

Trump’s remarks in the interview weren’t the first time his administration indicated it may be open to the notion of an Iranian nuclear energy program.

In late April, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Iran could keep its civilian nuclear program as long as it wasn’t enriching uranium for a nuclear bomb.

As nuclear talks between the two nations continue, the US is reluctant to seek a military solution, although the Trump Administration is determined to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, Rubio said.

“We do not want a war,” Rubio told US journalist Bari Weiss on her Honestly podcast.

“This is not a president who campaigned on starting wars,” he explained. “And as he said very clearly, Iran is not going to have a nuclear weapon, and he reserves every right to prevent that from happening, but he would prefer it not happen. He would prefer that there is no need to resort to military force by us or anybody else. He would prefer that it’d be something that we can negotiate.”

“The Iranians have shown a willingness to talk. We’re going to talk to them,” Rubio stressed, adding that “if Iran wants a civil nuclear program, they can have one just like many other countries in the world have one. That is, they import enriched material.”

Any military conflict would “trigger a broader conflict” and should be avoided, if possible, he concluded.