Trump: Israel would be 'leader' of Iran strike if Tehran doesn't give up
nuclear weapons program
[April 10, 2025]
By AAMER MADHANI
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Israel
would be the “leader” of a potential military strike against Iran if
Tehran doesn’t give up its nuclear weapons program.
Trump made the comments ahead of this weekend's scheduled talks
involving U.S. and Iranian officials in the Middle East sultanate of
Oman. Trump earlier this week said the talks would be “direct” while
Iran has described the engagement as “indirect” talks with the U.S.
“If it requires military, we’re going to have military,” Trump said.
"Israel will obviously be very much involved in that. They’ll be the
leader of that. But nobody leads us, but we do what we want to do."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week said he
supports Trump’s diplomatic efforts to reach a settlement with Iran. He
added that Israel and the U.S. share the same goal of ensuring that Iran
does not develop a nuclear weapon. Netanyahu, however, led efforts to
persuade Trump to pull out of a U.S.-brokered deal with Iran in 2018.
The Israeli leader, known for his hawkish views on Iran and past calls
for military pressure, said he would welcome a diplomatic agreement
along the lines of Libya’s deal with the international community in
2003. But that deal saw Libya’s late dictator Moammar Gadhafi give up
all of his clandestine nuclear program. Iran has insisted its program,
acknowledged to the International Atomic Energy Agency, should continue.
“I think that would be a good thing,” Netanyahu said. “But whatever
happens, we have to make sure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons.”
The United States is increasingly concerned as Tehran is closer than
ever to a workable weapon. But Trump said on Wednesday that he doesn't
have a definitive timeline for the talks to come to a resolution.
“When you start talks, you know, if they’re going along well or not,"
Trump said. "And I would say the conclusion would be what I think
they’re not going along well. So that’s just a feeling.”
The U.S. and other world powers in 2015 reached a long-term,
comprehensive nuclear agreement that limited Tehran’s enrichment of
uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. But Trump
unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear agreement in 2018,
calling it the “worst deal ever.”
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President Donald Trump listens as Israel's Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in the East Room
of the White House, Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan
Vucci, File)
Iran and the U.S., under President Joe Biden, held indirect
negotiations in Vienna in 2021 aimed at restoring the nuclear deal.
But those talks, and others between Tehran and European nations,
failed to reach any agreement.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department earlier on Wednesday issued
new sanctions targeting Iran’s nuclear program.
Five entities and one person based in Iran are cited in the new
sanctions for their support of Iran’s nuclear program. The
designated groups include the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and
subordinates Iran Centrifuge Technology Company, Thorium Power
Company, Pars Reactors Construction and Development Company and
Azarab Industries Co.
“I want Iran to be great,” Trump said Wednesday. “The only thing
that they can’t have is a nuclear weapon. They understand that.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian again pledged Wednesday that his
nation is “not after a nuclear bomb” and even dangled the prospect
of direct American investment in the Islamic Republic if the
countries can reach a deal.
The comments by the reformist leader represent a departure from
Iran’s stance after its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, in
which Tehran sought to buy American airplanes but in effect barred
U.S. companies from coming into the country.
“His excellency has no opposition to investment by American
investors in Iran,” Pezeshkian said in a speech in Tehran, referring
to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “American
investors: Come and invest.”
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