Trump: If Iran Had Nuclear Weapon, US Would Be Dealing With It ‘Much Differently’
US president says Washington would be forced into a different relationship with Tehran if Iran possessed a nuclear weapon, as he defends the war and says he has no regrets
By Abdullahi Yusuf
President Donald Trump has said the United States would be dealing with Iran “much differently” if Tehran possessed a nuclear weapon, arguing that such a capability would fundamentally alter Washington’s approach to the country.
“If Iran had a nuclear weapon, we’d be calling up and saying, ‘Sir, could we get together possibly?’ We’d be dealing with them much differently,” Trump said in a Fox News interview.
Trump said he believed Iran would have used a nuclear weapon against Israel and other countries in the region if it had acquired one.
“They’re crazy … They would have wiped out Israel. They would have wiped out the Middle East and they would have started hitting a couple of our cities,” he said.
The president also claimed that the United States had taken out Iran’s nuclear capability, presenting the destruction of the programme as a central justification for the war.
Trump said he had no regrets about how the conflict had unfolded.
“If I had to do it again, I would do exactly as I did,” he added.
Asked how Iran was still able to fire missiles despite the damage inflicted on its military capabilities, Trump said the country could continue launching them because it had retained some missiles.
“They had plenty, and they have some. They’ve been largely wiped out … But they have missiles. They’ll always have some missiles,” he said.
Trump also said the United States was not attacking Iran “in full” because of the November 3 midterm elections, predicting that the war would end shortly after the polls or possibly before then.
“Well, maybe I don’t do that because of the election,” he said when asked about calls for the US to “go in full” in the war.
He described Iran as “limping along” and “in deep trouble,” while maintaining that the conflict could end before the election.
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