Trump says Iran wants deal, rules out nuclear weapon

Washington: US President Donald Trump said that Iran was seeking talks with Washington but insisted Tehran would never be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon, using the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to reiterate his administration’s position on one of its top foreign policy priorities.

“They are talking to us right now. They’d love to make a deal,” Trump said.

“I don’t think they’re ready to. I don’t think it’s time yet. But I’m willing to listen.”

He said the United States would not compromise on Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “They cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.

“We don’t want to see Washington D.C. or any of our cities or Israel or, frankly, the Middle East destroyed with a nuclear weapon.”

“And they would use it if they had it.”

Trump also claimed recent US military action had significantly degraded Iran’s military capabilities, although he offered no evidence during his remarks.

“We’ve hit Iran very hard,” he said, adding that Iran’s navy and air force were “gone” and claiming the country had lost “250 jets”, “159 boats”, radar systems and much of its drone capability. “They don’t have much left,” he said.

The President described preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon as the central objective of US policy.

“This is all about we will not let them have a nuclear weapon,” he said.

The comments were among the few substantive foreign policy remarks in an hour-long speech that otherwise focused on humour, media criticism and political attacks.

Trump also argued that the United States had regained global standing during his second term.

“We’re on the cusp of something,” he said. “This is the golden age of America.”

He claimed foreign leaders had told him the United States had undergone a dramatic turnaround.

“We were a dead country two years ago,” Trump said, adding that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Saudi leaders had told him the United States had become “the hottest country anywhere in the world.”

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner was rescheduled after the original April event was interrupted by a shooting. Trump opened his remarks by condemning political violence, praising the Secret Service and law enforcement officers who responded to the attack, and thanking the White House press corps for returning to the annual event.

Iran’s nuclear programme has remained a central issue in US foreign policy for nearly two decades. Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear agreement during his first term and has repeatedly maintained that any future agreement must permanently prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Tehran has consistently said its nuclear programme is intended for peaceful civilian purposes.

IANS