Trump: Regime change in Iran is the best that can happen!
Donald Trump spoke openly on Friday about the possibility of regime change in Iran, after he announced earlier in the day that a second US aircraft carrier would leave very soon for the Middle East, after threatening Tehran with painful consequences if no agreement was reached on its nuclear program.
Asked if he wanted regime change in Iran, Trump told reporters at Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina: “That seems to be the best that could happen”.
“For 47 years, they have been talking, talking, talking… In the meantime, we have lost a lot of lives,” he said.
Trump has been threatening military action against Iran since protests erupted in late December, which authorities have confronted with a crackdown that has killed thousands.
Trump hasn’t publicly addressed the crackdown recently, linking the lack of military action to Iran’s agreement to a deal on its nuclear program.
Trump told reporters on Thursday night: “We’ve to get an agreement, otherwise it will be very painful… I don’t want that to happen (referring to military strikes), but we have to reach an agreement”.
Washington has beefed up its military deployment in the Middle East in recent weeks, sending a fleet led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.
Trump announced Friday that a second aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, would leave very soon for the region.
Iran and the United States held talks in Oman last week, although no dates have been set for a new round, there have been signs that Trump is optimistic about the prospects for a deal.
Iran insists that the talks be limited to the nuclear file, which Western countries suspect is aimed at developing an atomic weapon, which Tehran has always denied.
US and Western officials have said any deal with Iran should include a review of its ballistic missile program and its support for anti-Israel armed groups in the region.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Trump on Wednesday.
He then announced that the US president believed he was creating the conditions that could lead to a good deal, but expressed doubts about any such deal.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said on Friday that an agreement between the IAEA and Tehran on inspections related to its nuclear program is entirely possible, but very difficult.
In November, Iran refused to allow the IAEA to inspect its sites that were bombed in June.
