Trump flags showdown with Iran on nuclear, threatens Russia sanctions
Washington: US President Donald Trump says a stand-off with Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear program is down to its “final moments” and has threatened military action against the Islamic nation if it does not agree to a deal that precludes developing nuclear weapons.
He also threatened new sanctions on Russia after its forces unleashed a fresh missile bombardment against Ukraine, but said Vladimir Putin was only doing “what anybody else would do” and maintained his faith the Russian leader could end the war on just terms.
President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Friday.Credit: Bloomberg
On Iran, Trump told Fox Business he had sent a letter to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei calling for a new deal that would effectively replace the Obama-era agreement Trump abandoned during his first term.
“I said I hope you’re going to negotiate because it’s going to be a lot better for Iran,” Trump said. “If we have to go in militarily it’s going to be a terrible thing for them ... you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.”
According to an unclassified report from US intelligence agencies in July 2024, Iran has continued to increase the size of its uranium stockpile and lift its enrichment capacity. It could quickly produce weapons-grade uranium at numerous facilities if it chose to do so, the paper said, and there had been a notable increase in public statements about nuclear weapons in Iran, “suggesting the topic is becoming less taboo”.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last month.Credit: AP
Trump did not mention his letter to Khamenei during remarks in the Oval Office on Saturday (AEDT) and there has been no official receipt of the document from Tehran. The US and Iran have had no formal diplomatic relations since 1980. But Trump hinted at imminent action to force the matter to a head.
“We’re down to final strokes with Iran, that’s going to be an interesting time. We’ll see what happens, but we’re down to the final moments,” he told reporters.
“It’s an interesting time in the history of the world. But we have a situation with Iran that something’s going to happen very soon ... I’d rather see a peace deal than the other, but the other will solve the problem.”
The “other” appeared to be the US military operation Trump mentioned in his appearance on Fox Business, the full version of which is due to air on Sunday.
On the Ukraine war, Trump appeared to accept Putin was exploiting his decision to pause US military aid to Ukraine after the disastrous White House meeting with its president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
“I actually think he [Putin] is doing what anybody else would do,” Trump said. “I think he wants to get it stopped and settled, and I think he’s hitting them harder than he has been hitting them, and I think probably anybody in that position would be doing that right now.”
Ukrainian emergency personnel work at the scene of a Russian missile attack on a residential building in the Kharkiv last week.Credit: Getty Images
After announcing on social media that he was considering large-scale banking sanctions and tariffs “based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now”, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office he found it more difficult to deal with Ukraine than Russia.
“In terms of getting a final settlement, it may be easier dealing with Russia, which is surprising because they have all the cards,” he said. “They’re bombing the hell out of them right now, and I put [out] a very strong statement, you can’t do that.”
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said the US would continue to engage in shuttle diplomacy to get both sides to the peace table. He and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are due to meet a Ukrainian delegation in Saudi Arabia next week “to get these talks back on track”.
Trump said he still believed Putin wanted to negotiate a just end to the war, but was less certain about Ukraine. Asked why he would not provide air defences to the US ally in the face of Putin’s renewed aerial bombardment, Trump said: “Because I have to know that they want to settle. I don’t know that they want to settle. If they don’t want to settle, we’re out of there.”
In a video message overnight, Zelensky said there had been a flurry of phone calls between his government and the Trump administration and that Ukraine was committed to a constructive approach to achieve peace “as soon as possible”.
He said the latest Russian attacks used 260 assets, including cruise and ballistic missiles and drones to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Meanwhile, European Union leaders, mindful they may need to shoulder more of the burden for arming Ukraine and strengthen their own defences, agreed on a plan to significantly increase their military spending.
With AP
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