Trump says Israeli strikes may improve chances of Iran nuclear deal

Trump: “Maybe now they will negotiate seriously.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

US President Donald Trump said Israel’s strikes on Iran may improve the chances for a nuclear deal.

He made the remarks before heading into the Situation Room on Friday to discuss the conflict between Israel and Iran.

Despite the Islamic Republic calling off the sixth round of nuclear talks scheduled for Sunday, Trump denied that Israel’s Operation Rising Lion had torpedoed his administration’s efforts to secure a nuclear agreement with Iran.

He answered, “I don’t think so. Maybe the opposite. Maybe now they will negotiate seriously.”

Trump added, “I gave Iran 60 days, today is day 61,” Trump continued. “They should have made a deal.”

He argued that after Israel’s crippling strikes, Iran now has a stronger incentive to cut a deal. “I couldn’t get them to a deal in 60 days. They were close. They should have done it. Maybe now it will happen.”

Trump commented on Israel’s military operations on Friday and said it was “a big day yesterday” and mentioned that Israel used “great American equipment” during the attack.

Since Friday, the Israel Defense Forces, in coordination with the Mossad intelligence agency, has launched a large-scale aerial operation targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities, military infrastructure, and key personnel.

Israeli airstrikes crippled Iranian air defenses and the Israel Air Force inflicted substantial damage on Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment facility, including power substations and above-ground structures.

The operation also eliminated two dozen senior Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists, including Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leaders Gen. Hossein Salami, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, and Gen. Mohammad Bagheri.

Israeli strikes targeted and reportedly dismantled the Tabriz airbase, destroyed dozens of Iranian drones and missile launchers, and struck multiple military sites, including Hamadan and Parchin airbases.

On Friday, Trump had strong words for Iran following the attack, warning the Islamic Republic to compromise in nuclear talks or risk facing “brutal attacks.”

“There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end.”

Referring to the death of Iran’s highest-ranking military officer, the head of its elite Revolutionary Guards Corps, and a former national security chief in the strikes, Trump wrote, “They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse.”

He added, “Iran must make a deal before there is nothing left and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire.”

Trump warned that if Iran continued to turn down proposals to prevent it from building a nuclear weapon, the Islamic Republic would face military actions that “would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told.”

“I gave Iran a chance after chance to make a deal. I told them, in the strongest of words, to ‘just do it,’ but no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they couldn’t get it done,” he wrote.

Although Trump didn’t say whether the US would also join in the military actions, he boasted of the strength of US weapons. He indicated he would continue providing arms to Israel to deal with the Iranian threat.

He wrote, “The United States makes the best and the most lethal military equipment anywhere in the world BY FAR. Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come – And they know how to use it,” he wrote.