US President Donald Trump said Friday that he would find it"very difficult" to ask Israel to halt its airstrikes against Iran amid the ongoing military escalation and diplomatic efforts over Iran's nuclear program.
“I think it’s very difficult to make that request right now if someone is winning,” Trump told reporters in New Jersey, where he arrived for a fundraiser at his Bedminster golf course.
The US president reiterated that Israel maintains a position of military advantage in the conflict:"It's very hard to stop, when you look at it: Israel is doing well in terms of war," he said, adding that"Iran is doing less well, and it's kind of hard to get anyone to stop."
Furthermore, in the same press appearance, Trump dismissed the possibility that European-brokered negotiations would contribute to a solution."Iran doesn't want to talk to Europe. They want to talk to us. Europe isn't going to be able to help with this," he said, dismissing the impact of the talks held in Geneva between top European and Iranian diplomats.
Trump set a two-week deadline for making a decision on possible US military intervention in the conflict."I'm giving a timeframe, and I would say two weeks would be the maximum," he said, suggesting that a decision could come sooner if there is"no progress toward dismantling the Iranian nuclear program."
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had demanded from Geneva that the United States pressure Israel to halt the attacks as a condition for resuming nuclear talks, a request Trump rejected. “We are ready, willing, and able. We have been talking with Iran, and we will see what happens,” the US president declared, adding: “If someone is winning, it is harder to ask them to stop.”
The White House said Thursday that a determination on possible U.S. military involvement will be made"in the next two weeks." The president recalled the differences with the conflict in Iraq more than 20 years ago, categorically stating that"there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq," and defended his advisers' position on the Iranian nuclear threat."U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is wrong" to say there is no evidence that Tehran has nuclear weapons, he said.
Trump insisted that Washington's goal is to get Iran to abandon"its pursuit of further uranium enrichment." "They're sitting on one of the largest oil reserves in the world. I just don't understand why they need that for civilian purposes," the White House chief asserted.
Since June 13, Israel has launched a series of attacks against nuclear facilities and residential areas in the Iranian capital, Tehran. The bombings preceded a new round of negotiations between Washington and Tehran, scheduled for Muscat, the capital of Oman, to discuss the future of Iran's nuclear program. According to Trump, Israel's military capacity is limited to destroying all of Iran's nuclear facilities.
