Trump Says Iran Missed Chance for Deal, Vague on Strike Plans

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(Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump said Iran squandered the chance to make a deal over its nuclear enrichment, but declined to say whether the US plans to join Israel’s offensive aimed at destroying the program. 

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“I may do it. I may not do it,” Trump told reporters Wednesday at the White House when asked if he is moving closer to striking Iranian facilities. “I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”

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Iran had been in negotiations with the Trump administration over its nuclear program for weeks, with a further meeting scheduled, when Israel attacked on Friday. The US president didn’t close the door to a resumption of talks —- and said Iran had sought a meeting, a claim Tehran disputed — but he downplayed the likelihood they would bear fruit. 

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“I said it’s very late to be talking,” Trump said. “There’s a big difference between now and a week ago.”

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Trump said he encouraged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a call Tuesday to push forward with its military operation, which has targeted Iran’s nuclear program, along with top generals and scientists as well as energy and other infrastructure.

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“I said, ‘keep going,’” Trump said when asked about his message to Netanyahu, adding he gave his counterpart no indication that US forces would participate in the attacks. The US is seen as being able to provide military firepower necessary to destroy Iran’s underground enrichment facility at Fordow, which analysts say Israel is unable to do alone. 

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The comments were Trump’s first substantive remarks since meeting Tuesday with his National Security Council, where the US’s options were discussed. He spoke to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House, where workers were installing a giant flagpole outside the executive mansion’s diplomatic entrance. Hours earlier he’d demanded “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” from Iran in a social media post.

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Since Israel’s strikes started, Iran has fired 400 ballistic missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel, killing 24 people and injuring more than 800, according to the Israeli government. At least 224 Iranians have been killed by Israel’s attacks.

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“The Americans should know that the Iranian nation is not one to surrender,” Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement published on his official website Wednesday. “Any military incursion by the United States will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage.”

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Iran’s missile and drone launches against Israel appeared to be subsiding Wednesday evening, although the reason wasn’t immediately clear. 

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While the Israeli army earlier said it had destroyed around one-third of Iran’s missile launchers, Tehran still possesses thousands of ballistic missiles that can reach Israel, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said Monday. 

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Trump said the Iranian government had contacted the US about the conflict and even proposed a White House meeting to settle the matter, yet he said his patience with the Islamic Republic had “already run out.” Iran’s mission to the United Nations denied that claim in an X post Wednesday, saying “No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House.”