Trump says Israel would lead Iran strike if Tehran doesn't give up nuclear program - Region
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Israel would be the 'leader' of a potential military strike against Iran if Tehran doesn't give up its nuclear weapons program.
Trump made the comments ahead of this weekend's scheduled talks involving U.S. and Iranian officials in the Middle East sultanate of Oman.
Trump earlier this week said the talks would be 'direct' while Iran has described the engagement as 'indirect' talks with the U.S.
'If it requires military, we're going to have military,' Trump said. "Israel will obviously be very much involved in that. They'll be the leader of that. But nobody leads us, but we do what we want to do."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week said he supports Trump's diplomatic efforts to reach a settlement with Iran.
He added that Israel and the U.S. share the same goal of ensuring that Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon. Netanyahu, however, led efforts to persuade Trump to pull out of a U.S.-brokered deal with Iran in 2018.
Trump said on Wednesday that he doesn't have a definitive timeline for the talks to come to a resolution.
'When you start talks, you know, if they're going along well or not," Trump said. "And I would say the conclusion would be what I think they're not going along well. So that's just a feeling.'
Iran and the U.S., under President Joe Biden, held indirect negotiations in Vienna in 2021 aimed at restoring the nuclear deal. But those talks, and others between Tehran and European nations, failed to reach any agreement.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department earlier on Wednesday issued new sanctions targeting Iran's nuclear program.
Five entities and one person based in Iran are cited in the new sanctions for their support of Iran's nuclear program. The designated groups include the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and subordinates Iran Centrifuge Technology Company, Thorium Power Company, Pars Reactors Construction and Development Company and Azarab Industries Co.
'I want Iran to be great,' Trump said Wednesday. 'The only thing that they can't have is a nuclear weapon. They understand that.'
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian again pledged Wednesday that his nation is 'not after a nuclear bomb' and even dangled the prospect of direct American investment in the Islamic Republic if the countries can reach a deal.
The comments by the reformist leader represent a departure from Iran's stance after its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, in which Tehran sought to buy American airplanes but in effect barred U.S. companies from coming into the country.
'His excellency has no opposition to investment by American investors in Iran,' Pezeshkian said in a speech in Tehran, referring to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 'American investors: Come and invest.'
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