WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on April 9 repeated his threat to use military force if Iran did not agree to end its nuclear programme, saying Israel would play a key role in any military action.
He said Iran could not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, and if it declined to stop development efforts, military action could follow.
“I’m not asking for much… but they can’t have a nuclear weapon,” he told reporters after signing several executive orders in the Oval Office.
“If it requires military, we’re going to have military. Israel will, obviously, be… the leader of that. No one leads us. We do what we want.”
The President declined to address when any military action could begin. “I don’t want to be specific. But when you start talks, you know if they’re going along well or not. And I would say the conclusion would be when I think they’re not going along well.”
Mr Trump on April 7 made a surprise announcement that the US and Iran were poised to begin direct talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme on April 12, warning that Iran would be in “great danger” if the talks were unsuccessful.
Iran, which had pushed against Mr Trump’s demands in recent weeks, said indirect talks would be held in Oman, underscoring differences between the two countries.
On April 8, Iran’s state media said the talks would be led by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, with the intermediation of Oman Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi.
The US and Iran held indirect talks during former president Joe Biden’s term, but they made little, if any, progress.
The last known direct negotiations between the two governments were under then President Barack Obama, who spearheaded the 2015 international nuclear deal that Mr Trump later abandoned.
During his first presidential term from 2017 to 2021, Mr Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 deal between Iran and world powers designed to curb Iran’s sensitive nuclear work in exchange for sanctions relief. He also reimposed sweeping US sanctions.
Since then, Iran has far surpassed that deal’s limits on uranium enrichment.
Western powers accuse Iran of having a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability by enriching uranium to a high level of fissile purity, above what they say is justifiable for a civilian atomic energy programme.
Tehran says its nuclear programme is wholly for civilian energy purposes. REUTERS
Join ST’s Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.