Trump: I may support a ceasefire between Iran and Israel if circumstances permit
US President Donald Trump said that Iran is going through a difficult period and that he doesn’t currently see a clear way to stop the fighting between it and Israel.
In remarks made on Friday evening, Trump made it clear that Tehran does not want to negotiate with European countries, but rather prefers to speak directly with the United States, saying, “Iran doesn’t want to talk with Europe, but with us”.
Regarding the future of military escalation, Trump said, “I may support a ceasefire as circumstances permit,” but added, “It would be difficult to ask Israel to halt airstrikes in Iran”.
The US president noted that Iran was, according to his knowledge, “only weeks away from possessing a nuclear weapon,” but refrained from taking a decisive position at this stage, adding, “I cannot make a final decision on Iran now”.
Trump stressed that the United States is ready to talk to Iran, adding, “We’ll talk to Iran and see what happens next”.
The US president downplayed European efforts on the Iranian issue, asserting that they were meaningless, while simultaneously announcing a two-week grace period for Iran to see if some come to their senses.
Trump declared, “I’m giving Iran a maximum of two weeks to see if some of them come to their senses,” referring to what he described as a final opportunity before taking a more aggressive stance, without revealing the nature of the measures that might follow the deadline.
On the other hand, Trump stated that Israel’s ability to destroy Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility is limited, stressing that Tel Aviv does not have the necessary capabilities.
Trump said, “Their capability is very limited… They can penetrate a small portion, but they can’t penetrate deeply… They don’t have that capability… We’ll see what happens… Maybe it won’t be necessary… Maybe it won’t be necessary”.
For its part, Israeli Channel 12 reported, citing a military source, that Israel is preparing to strike Iran’s main nuclear facility and is awaiting Washington’s decision to join the war.
According to the source, Israel said it would attack the Fordo facility alone if the United States did not want to do so with it.
In the same context, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Moscow is in contact with the Iranian side on an almost daily basis, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran.
During the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin emphasized that “it’s possible to reach solutions acceptable to both Iran and Israel within the framework of settling the conflict,” adding that “there are possible points of convergence for resolving the conflict between Iran and Israel”.
For his part, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, stated that Israeli strikes on Iran could lead to a nuclear catastrophe.
Nebenzia stressed that Russia demands that Israel immediately stop attacking Iran, especially nuclear sites under the protection of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
He continued, “Russia considers the intensive Israeli attacks on civilian facilities in Iran to be unacceptable and absolutely illegal under international law”.
