President Donald Trump said Sunday in an interview with CNN that renewed American strikes on Iran were highly unlikely if upcoming talks on Tehran's nuclear program show progress.1,2,3
Trump tied the decision to whether Tehran signs what he called a strong agreement covering its nuclear program and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, presenting progress in the upcoming peace talks as the condition for holding off further military action. His comments came as attention focused on whether Washington would return to open hostilities after eight months of hostilities that he described as having left Iran weakened financially.1,3
"It depends on whether or not they sign a very strong agreement," Trump said during the interview with CNN's Jim Sciutto. "The answer is highly unlikely it's going to be necessary." He repeated the phrase highly unlikely several times in describing the prospect of a new escalation, conditioning any further action on movement in the negotiations.1,3
In the interview, Trump sought to downplay fears that the United States is about to relaunch its military campaign against Iran, after weeks of rumors that the United States and Israel were preparing new strikes on Iran. He said Iran wanted an agreement and described Tehran as seeking a deal.3
At the same time, Trump said the United States military was "ready" to launch a new round of strikes and said it could "finish [Iran] off." He presented readiness as current and continuing even as he described a new escalation as unlikely if negotiations moved forward. The remarks combined a warning about American capability with an emphasis on talks as the path to avoiding its use.3
"I've got three aircraft carriers here," he said. "They're fully locked and loaded." Trump presented the deployments as evidence that Washington could act if it chose to do so, while saying action would not be necessary if a strong agreement is reached.3
He added that the American military had 38 bridges in their sights "that we can knock down in literally one hour." Trump offered the figure as a measure of the scale of action available, linking it to his statement that forces were prepared to move quickly. As with the carrier remarks, he paired the warning with the statement that such action was highly unlikely if talks progressed.3
Trump described Iran as a "failing nation" and said it was "withering away financially" after eight months of hostilities. "I hit them so hard. You don't know how hard I hit them," he said. He placed those remarks in the context of eight months of hostilities.3
"They want to make a deal so badly," Trump said of the Iranians. He repeated the point during the interview, presenting Tehran's interest in an agreement as the reason he expected talks to move and escalation to be avoided.3
The accounts agree on the central wording that a return to strikes is highly unlikely while negotiations continue, with one account describing the condition as continued negotiations and the others describing it as progress in peace talks toward a strong agreement on the nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz. The interview was reported through CNN, with the interviewer identified as Jim Sciutto.1,2,3
Trump ordered an attack on Iran in late February, and the accounts note that the order followed action by Israel. What comes next, in Trump's account, is the upcoming talks and whether they produce the strong agreement he described. "They want to make a deal so badly," he said.1,3
