WASHINGTON — President Trump said Thursday that Iran would face a “very traumatic” moment if it doesn’t make a deal with the US within the next month.
“We have to make a deal, otherwise it’s going to be very traumatic, very traumatic,” Trump told reporters at the White House — one day after meeting privately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“They should have made a deal the first time. They got Midnight Hammer instead, and this will be very traumatic for Iran.”
Asked about his timeline for an agreement to be reached, Trump answered: “I guess over the next month, something like that.”
“They should agree very quickly,” the president added.
“I’ll talk to them as long as I like, and we’ll see if we can get a deal with them. And if we can’t, we’ll have to go to phase two,” he went on.
“Phase two will be very tough for them. I’m not looking for that.”
The rough one-month timeframe can’t necessarily be taken at face value.Trump’s attack on three Iranian nuclear sites this past June featured deception about timing — with the White House saying he would decide what to do “within the next two weeks.”
Just two days later, the bombs fell.
Trump’s latest ramp-up to a possible attack began with a warning on Jan. 2 that the US was “locked and loaded and ready to go” if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” which it reportedly then did on a historic scale.
Trump on Jan. 13 called on protesters to “TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!” and said “HELP IS ON ITS WAY” — before backing away from an immediate strike, citing Iran’s decision to postpone executions of hundreds of demonstrators.
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday in Oman to discuss a deal that would address the country’s nuclear program and support for regional terror proxies.
The president recently ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and a supporting strike group into the Arabian Sea and reportedly is considering moving a second carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush, to the region.
