On Friday, President Donald Trump told Reuters in a telephone interview that he and his team knew everything about Israel to attack Iran and that he had given Tehran a just warning that he had to conclude a nuclear program.
“We knew everything and I tried to save the humiliation and the death of Iran. I tried to save them very hard because I would have liked to see a concluded agreement,” said Trump.
“They can always conclude an agreement, however, it is not too late,” he added.
Trump had repeatedly pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay an Israeli attack to give diplomacy more time, although the president himself threatened to bomb the Gulf nation if nuclear talks failed.
Trump said he had given the Iranians 60 days to conclude an agreement, “and today was 61 years old.” Iran fell on the insistence of the United States to renounce the enrichment of uranium.
“We knew almost everything,” he said. “We knew enough so that we gave Iran 60 days to conclude an agreement and today, it is 61, right? So, you know, we knew everything.”
Trump said it was not clear if Iran still had a nuclear program after Israeli strikes in the country.
“No one knows. It was a very devastating success,” said Trump.
Israel said that he had targeted Iran’s nuclear installations, ballistic missile factories and military commanders at the start of what he warns would be an extended operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon.
Trump said the United States still had nuclear talks planned with Iran on Sunday, but that he was not sure they would take place. He said it was not too late for Iran to conclude an agreement.
The American special envoy Steve Witkoff should meet an Iranian delegation in Oman on Sunday, but Israeli attacks have raised doubts about whether the session will always take place.
“They are not dead,” said Trump about Iran’s American talks. “We have a meeting with them on Sunday. Now I don’t know if this meeting will take place, but we have a meeting with them on Sunday.”
The president had summoned his best national security advisers to Camp David on Sunday evening for what he said was discussions that understood Iran, and he spoke on Monday in Netanyahu of Iran.
He said that he was not concerned about a regional war exploded following the strikes of Israel but did not develop.
When asked if the United States would support Israel against Iranian counterattacks, Trump said that he was supporting Israel.
“We were very close to Israel,” he said. “We are by far their number one ally.”
“We will see what’s going on,” he said.
