Trump Says It's Unclear If Iran Still Has a Nuclear Program
President Donald Trump told Reuters in a phone interview on Friday that it was unclear if Iran still has a nuclear program following Israeli strikes on the country.
Trump told Reuters the US still has nuclear talks planned with Iran on Sunday but that he is not sure if they will still take place. He said it was not too late for Iran to make a deal.
"I tried to save Iran humiliation and death," Trump said.
He said he is not concerned about a regional war breaking out as a result of Israel's strikes.
Earlier, Trump told the Wall Street Journal that he and his team had known about Israel's plans to attack Iran.
The Wall Street Journal said that, when asked what kind of a heads-up the United States received before the attack, Trump said in a brief phone interview: "Heads-up? It wasn't a heads-up. It was, we know what's going on."
Trump said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and planned to speak with him again on Friday.
Trump called the operation "a very successful attack, to put it mildly," the Wall Street Journal said.
Also on Friday, he urged Iran to make a deal over its nuclear program, saying that there was still time for the country to prevent further conflict with Israel.
"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," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Israel launched strikes against Iran on Friday, saying it had targeted nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders during the start of an operation to prevent Tehran from building a nuclear weapon.
Israel's strikes come days before a sixth round of talks were planned between Iran and the US over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program this Sunday in Oman.
Trump's new administration has been seeking a deal that would halt Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
It wasn't immediately clear how the strikes would affect plans for the talks.
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