Trump Says US Held Back from Striking Iran's Military
Speaking in an interview with a news outlet, Trump acknowledged that the US had struck other elements of Iranian leadership while consciously leaving the country's armed forces intact.
"People would be surprised to hear that, because mistakes have been made in wars where you wipe out everybody, and then you have a country that's for 40 years can never rebuild," he said in an interview with the news outlet.
Trump pointed directly to Iraq as a cautionary tale of American overreach in past military engagements.
"You look at what happened with Iraq; we did so badly, that was such a foolish thing," he said.
The president reiterated his assertion that Iran would have succeeded in acquiring nuclear weapons had US B-2 bombers not struck Iranian nuclear facilities last June. Despite the ongoing negotiations, Trump projected a deliberately unhurried posture.
"If you are in a hurry, you won't make a good deal," he said, adding that the two sides were "close to a very good deal."
Trump outlined one non-negotiable condition at the core of any prospective agreement — the permanent prevention of an Iranian nuclear arsenal.
"The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons, they've agreed to that," Trump said, though Iranian officials have not confirmed that clause in an agreement.
He closed with a veiled but pointed warning over the consequences of a breakdown in talks. "Slowly but surely, we're getting, I think, what we want -- and if we don't get what we want, we're going to end it a different way," he added.
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