US President Donald Trump said Friday he had given Iran a deadline to make a deal, as Washington moved significant military assets to the Middle East ahead of a potential strike on the Islamic Republic. Asked by reporters in the Oval Office whether he’d set a deadline for Iran before a potential strike, Trump confirmed that he had communicated one directly to Tehran, adding, “Only they know for sure.” He did not reveal the timing of that deadline.
Asked if there was a timeline for when the US forces in the region might pull back, Trump was noncommittal. “They have to float someplace. They might as well float near Iran.” He reiterated his “appreciation” of the regime’s purported calling off of over 800 executions of anti-government protesters — something Tehran has not confirmed it was planning to do.
Trump had threatened to strike the regime if it killed protesters, which it is widely reported to have done in the thousands.“We have a large armada flotilla heading toward Iran right now,” Trump reiterated. “Hopefully, we’ll make a deal. If we do make a deal, that’s good. If we don’t make a deal, we’ll see what happens,” Trump said.
The US has said a deal with Iran will have to include a ban on uranium enrichment in Iran, the removal of already-enriched uranium from Iran, a cap on Iran’s stockpile of long-range missiles and a rollback of Iran’s support for proxies in the region — all terms that Tehran has said it will not accept. Iran’s top diplomat said Friday that his country’s missile and defense capabilities would “never” be on the negotiating table. (Read More)
