U.S. President Donald Trump said late Friday that if there is no deal with Iran by Wednesday, the United States may not extend the ceasefire and could resume military action.
“Maybe I won't extend it,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One when asked about his deadline for the talks, adding that the blockade on Iranian ports "is going to remain" and "we're going to have to start dropping bombs again.”
US President Donald Trump on Iran negotiations
(Video: from social media)
In the same exchange with reporters, Trump said, “About 20 minutes ago we got very good news. It looks like everything is going well in the Middle East.” He declined to elaborate on what he described as good news, but said negotiations with Iran would continue through the weekend.
CNN, citing sources in Iran, reported that another round of talks is expected in Pakistan on Monday. Trump concluded by saying he believes an agreement will be reached.
Asked about inconsistencies between his statements on Iran and repeated Iranian denials, Trump said Tehran had “people they need to please.”
“I’m just doing the right thing, telling it like it is,” he said. “We have a situation that is going to be very beneficial, and the main thing is that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump also was asked whether he had been frustrated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while ceasefire contacts were underway amid Israeli strikes in Lebanon.
“We disagree on some things, but he’s been a very good partner,” Trump said. “We did a good job. There probably has never been anything like it. We were the senior, and we are the senior. We’re the greatest military in the world.”
Asked whether Lebanon was connected to the ceasefire with Iran, Trump said the link was not direct, though he suggested there may be a psychological connection.
“It’s not really related, but you could say maybe it’s related psychologically,” he said. “We’re going to help Lebanon become a country again. They’ve been through a lot.”
Earlier in the night, speaking at an event in Phoenix commemorating Charlie Kirk, Trump said Iran’s enriched uranium would be removed with U.S. involvement.
“We’re going in with a lot of bulldozers,” Trump said. “It’s so deep, we need the biggest bulldozers you can imagine, but we’re going in together with Iran. We’re going to get it and bring it back home, to the U.S. If Iran gets a nuclear bomb, it will use it on the first day.”
Later, aboard Air Force One, Trump was asked about the timetable for such a move and responded sarcastically.
“You want me to give you the hour and the date?” he said. “If we sign an agreement, I can give you a time. We’re going in with Iran, we’ll take it together and bring it back. One hundred percent to the U.S. If not, we’ll get it another way, much less friendly. Sorry, but either way we’ll get it.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei denied that Iran intends to hand over enriched uranium buried underground to the United States.
“The option of transferring Iran’s enriched uranium abroad has been rejected,” Baghaei said. “Compensation for the losses and damage caused to Iran is a decisive issue in the negotiations.”
An official Iranian source also told the Qatari newspaper The New Arab that the announced temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a ceasefire in Lebanon were part of the ceasefire arrangement. The source said Trump’s claim that an agreement had been reached to hand over enriched uranium was false.
“The negotiations are still ongoing regarding disputed issues,” the source said, “but there is no clear horizon for them in light of excessive American demands.”