Trump says there will either be a deal with Iran or US will ‘finish the job’
Indirect US-Iran talks ended last week with no public signs of progress towards a lasting peace, despite a 60-day ceasefire aimed at creating space for diplomacy after US and Israeli attacks that triggered the conflict.
“We’re either going to make a deal or we’re going to finish the job. OK. And it won’t be hard to finish the job. I’d rather make a deal because I don’t want to affect 91 million people,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
“Within an hour, we can destroy their bridges, cut off their energy supplies… They don’t have any money right now. We haven’t given them any money.”
Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, called Trump’s threat “delusional.”
“Iranians are not familiar with threat language. Therefore, speak to the Iranian people with respect, otherwise we will respond in another language,” Zolkadr said in comments carried by state media.
Trump spoke after Khamenei’s funeral held over the weekend; Rather than appearing weakened by the war that began with US and Israeli attacks on February 28, the Iranians appeared defiant, united and determined to shape the next step.
The 60-day ceasefire was intended to revive Washington’s diplomacy aimed at stopping Iran from developing a nuclear arsenal.
