US President Donald Trump rejected the idea of extending talks with Iran past ceasefire date, should there be no progress in negotiations by the given date, voicing optimism that Washington and Tehran could come up with a “great deal”, even as the ceasefire’s expiration date draws near, with little progress made diplomatically by both nations.
“Well, I don’t want to do that. We don’t have that much time,” Trump told CNBC, adding that Tehran has little choice in the matter, citing the crippling blows dealt to its leadership, and military.
“We’ve taken out their navy, we’ve taken out their air force, we’ve taken out their leaders,” the president said.
“We’ve taken out their leaders, frankly, which does complicate things in one way, but these (existing) leaders are much more rational.
“It is regime change, no matter what you want to call it, which is not something I said I was going to do, but I’ve done it indirectly.”
“They have to negotiate. And, you know, the one thing I’ll say is this: Iran can get themselves on a very good footing. If they make a deal, they can make themselves into a strong nation again, a wonderful nation again,” he added.
Decrying the Iranian leadership, he added that the Iranian people are led by “some very, very, unfortunately tough people. And I don’t mean tough in a good way. I think it’s very negative for the country.”
Later, Trump said that if the ceasefire ends Wednesday without an agreement, he is more than prepared to resume attacking Iran, and will commence naval and aerial bombing.
“I expect to be bombing because I think that’s a better attitude to go in with,” he said.
