Trump offers ‘second chance' to Iran after Israeli strikes, urges nuclear deal ‘before there is nothing left'
On Friday, US President Donald Trump issued a stark warning to Iran in the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes targeting Tehran's nuclear and military infrastructure.
According to an ABC report, Trump praised the strike, saying 'I think it's been excellent…They got hit hard, very hard. They got hit about as hard as you're going to get hit. And there's more to come. A lot more.'
He also mocked Iranian leadership on his social media platform Truth Social. 'Certain Iranian hardliner's spoke bravely, but they didn't know what was about to happen,' he wrote, 'they are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse!'
On a phone call with CNN, he reiterated that point saying, 'you know the people I was dealing with are dead, the hardliners.' Asked if this was a result of Israel's attack, Trump responded, 'they didn't die of the flu; they didn't die of Covid.'
Trump also echoed his longstanding support of Israel, praising the 'successful attack,' and stating, 'we of course support Israel, obviously and supported it like nobody has ever supported it.'
On Truth Social, he alluded to his attempts to renegotiate a nuclear deal with Iran, blaming the country for taking him up on the opportunity. 'I gave Iran 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 just couldn't get it done,' Trump wrote.
However, the president also suggested that a reconciliation was still on the cards, offering Iran a 'second chance.'
'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,' he stated, urging Iran to 'make a deal, before there is nothing left.'
Two sources familiar with the discussions told CNN that US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had been in contact with Omani officials overnight to try to keep the plans intact. However, the sources admitted it is now 'highly unlikely' the talks will proceed as scheduled.
Oman has so far served as a key facilitator of the backchannel talks between Washington and Tehran. Yet significant disagreements persist, especially over Iran's insistence on maintaining the right to enrich uranium. Earlier this week, Trump said in an interview that he was becoming less optimistic about reaching an agreement, suggesting Tehran may be intentionally stalling.
On Thursday, however, Trump described a deal with Iran as being 'fairly close' and warned that an Israeli strike on the country could 'blow it.'
'As long as I think there will be an agreement, I don't want them going in,' he told reporters.
However, he acknowledged that the potential for conflict remained. Asked by reporters at the White House if a strike on Iran was imminent, he replied, 'I don't want to say imminent, but it's something that could very well happen.'
The same day, non-essential American personnel were evacuated from Iran. Trump said the order to move staff out had been given because the region 'could be a dangerous place.' He added, 'we'll see what happens. We've given notice to move out, and we'll see what happens.'
When asked what the Israeli government had told him about the need to evacuate US personnel from the region, Trump claimed, 'they didn't tell me anything.'
Today, he changed tacks, telling Fox News that he was aware of Israel's strikes beforehand and that 'there were no surprises.'
His Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, had claimed the opposite. In a statement on Thursday night, he said, 'tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region.'
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