Ratcheting down from his rhetoric over Iran, President Donald Trump has said a nuclear deal that stops Iran from developing nuclear weapons is possible.
Speaking in Tokyo alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the U.S. president also brushed aside concerns that his administration was seeking a regime change in Tehran.
“I really believe that Iran would like to make a deal, and I think that’s very smart of them, and I think that’s a possibility to happen,” Trump said.
Trump, whose national security adviser John Bolton has been reportedly peddling a war with the Persian Gulf country, made far different remarks than his own suggestion a war with the U.S. would be an end of Iran.
“It has a chance to be a great country with the same leadership,” Trump said.
“We aren’t looking for regime change – I just want to make that clear. We are looking for no nuclear weapons.”
Trump pulled Washington out of an international nuclear deal reached with Iran in 2015, as he wants to have firm assurances that Tehran would not be able to develop nuclear weapons.
In Tokyo, he called the Iran nuclear deal as “horrible,” and said he decision has had an effect on Iran, which is also facing tight U.S. sanctions.
“If you look at the deal that Biden and President Obama signed, they would have access — free access — to nuclear weapons, where they wouldn’t even be in violation, in just a very short period of time. What kind of a deal is that? So we can’t have that.”
“Look what has happened to Iran. Iran, when I first came into office, was a terror. They were fighting in many locations all over the Middle East. They were behind every single major attack, whether it was Syria, whether it was Yemen, whether it was individual smaller areas, whether it was taking away oil from people. They were involved with everything. Now they’re pulling back because they’re got serious economic problems.”
“We have massive — as you know, massive sanctions and other things. I mean, we just said the other day: steel, copper, different elements of what they used to sell. The oil is essentially dried up. And I’m not looking to hurt Iran at all. I’m looking to have Iran say, “No nuclear weapons.” We have enough problems in this world right now with nuclear weapons. No nuclear weapons for Iran. And I think we’ll make a deal. “
