Camilla Jessen
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he holds multiple options in the escalating conflict with Iran.
Donald Trump has said he can end the conflict with Iran “in two or three days” or choose to extend it.
In an interview with Axios on Saturday, the US president said he has “many exit points” from the current campaign.
“I can extend it and take control of all aspects, or I can end it in two or three days and tell the Iranians that we will meet again in a few years,” Trump said. “In any case, it will take them a few years to recover from this attack.”
He said he believed Iran was not serious about reaching a deal.
“The Iranians were close to making a deal, then they backed off, they were close again, then they backed off again. I understood from that that they didn’t really want a deal,” he told Axios.
Trump also claimed that without the June operation, which he called “Operation Midnight Hammer,” Iran would already have nuclear weapons.
“If we hadn’t attacked them in June with Operation Midnight Hammer, they would have had nuclear weapons by now,” he said.
He added that he had “a good conversation” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said they were “on the same wavelength.”
Calls with regional leaders
In a separate interview with The Washington Post, Trump said: “All I want is freedom for the Iranian people. I want a secure nation, and that’s what we’re going to have.”
He did not give details on how that goal would be achieved.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Trump spoke with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as well as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
The calls came after reports of Iranian attacks on military bases in Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Tensions have been rising for years over Iran’s nuclear program.
Relations worsened after the United States withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions.
Sources: Axios, The Washington Post.
