President Donald Trump stated on Wednesday that should it become necessary to take military steps against Iran’s nuclear development, Israel will be a key participant and may even spearhead the action.
“With Iran, if it requires military, we’re going to have military. Israel will be the leader of that. But nobody leads us, we do what we want to do,” Trump said during remarks from the Oval Office.
When asked how long he would give Iran to come to the table with a deal, Trump said, “I can’t really be specific, but when you start talks, you know if they’re going along well or not, and I would say the conclusion would be when I think they’re not going along well.”
While Trump has consistently voiced a preference for diplomacy over conflict, he has also made it clear that he won’t hesitate to use force if needed to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear threat.
Earlier in the week, Trump announced during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu that the U.S. planned to engage Iran in discussions over the weekend about its nuclear ambitions.
Even though Trump indicated that these would be direct talks, Iranian authorities clarified that any interaction would be indirect, not in-person negotiations.
Tehran had recently turned down Trump’s invitation for direct dialogue, declining the proposal delivered in a letter addressed to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Trump later issued a strong warning, cautioning that serious consequences would follow if Iran did not commit to a nuclear deal.
He followed up with an even more severe threat, saying, “if they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing — and it will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”
{Matzav.com}