US President Donald Trump on Thursday warned Iran of “very traumatic” consequences if it fails to reach a new nuclear agreement with Washington, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced skepticism over the prospects of any deal.
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Speaking a day after hosting Netanyahu at the White House, Trump said he hoped negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear programme would yield results “over the next month.”
“We have to make a deal, otherwise it’s going to be very traumatic, very traumatic. I don’t want that to happen, but we have to make a deal,” Trump told reporters. “This will be very traumatic for Iran if they don’t make a deal.”
Trump, who is weighing the deployment of a second US aircraft carrier to the Middle East to increase pressure on Tehran, also referenced military strikes he ordered on Iranian nuclear facilities during Israel’s 12-day conflict with Iran in July last year.
“We’ll see if we can get a deal with them, and if we can’t, we’ll have to go to phase two. Phase two will be very tough for them,” he said.
Netanyahu traveled to Washington to press for a tougher US stance in the nuclear negotiations, particularly the inclusion of Iran’s ballistic missile programme in any agreement. However, differences appeared to remain between the two leaders, with Trump publicly insisting that diplomatic efforts should continue.
In a video statement before departing Washington, Netanyahu said Trump believed current pressure could help secure a viable agreement.
“He believes that the conditions he is creating, combined with the fact that they surely understand they made a mistake last time when they didn’t reach an agreement, may create the conditions for achieving a good deal,” Netanyahu said.
However, the Israeli premier added that he had conveyed “general skepticism regarding the quality of any agreement with Iran.”
He stressed that any deal must address not only Tehran’s nuclear programme but also its ballistic missile arsenal and support for armed groups such as Hamas, Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“It’s not just the nuclear issue,” Netanyahu said.
Despite tensions over Iran policy, Trump expressed strong personal support for Netanyahu and criticised Israeli President Isaac Herzog for declining to pardon the prime minister over corruption charges.
“You have a president that refuses to give him a pardon. I think that man should be ashamed of himself,” Trump said.
The renewed diplomacy follows the resumption of talks between Washington and Tehran last week in Oman. Previous negotiations were cut short by Israel’s war with Iran and subsequent US strikes.
Iran has so far rejected expanding discussions beyond its nuclear programme. Tehran maintains that it does not seek nuclear weapons and has said it will not yield to what it calls “excessive demands.”
