Donald Trump’s statements were made during an official visit by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to the White House and come after airstrikes that targeted central structures of the Iranian regime. Trump also stated that the “worst possible scenario” for Iran would be the emergence of a leader “as bad” as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whom Washington claims died in the attacks carried out on Saturday.
The words of the American president come in the wake of an attack on a building that served as the headquarters of the Assembly of Experts, the constitutional body responsible for selecting the Supreme Leader of Iran, which is said to have been completely destroyed.
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The day before, the State Secretary Marco Rubio had claimed that the United States faced an imminent threat, alleging that Israel was preparing to attack Iran and that Tehran would be ready to retaliate against American forces. However, Trump contradicted this version, suggesting that he might have been the one to precipitate the start of the Israeli offensive.
“I think they were going to attack first, and I didn’t want that to happen. So, if that’s the case, maybe I forced Israel’s hand,” declared the president, admitting also that “there is probably a third wave of attacks targeted at Iranian leadership.”
Earlier, Trump had written on social media that “the air defenses, the Air Force, the Navy, and the leadership[do Irão]”They have disappeared,” adding that Tehran “wants to talk” but that it is already “too late” for negotiations.
Hours later, the ambassador of the Iranian mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, rejected these statements, guaranteeing that Iran does not maintain contacts with the United States, neither to end the conflict nor to resume negotiations on the nuclear program. “We have serious doubts about the usefulness of negotiations at this moment,” he stated, adding that “it is not the time to open channels of dialogue.”
The war began on Saturday when the United States, in coordination with Israel, launched attacks against Iran, allegedly following weeks of failed negotiations. Since then, bombings are reported to have caused at least 787 deaths in Iran, according to the Red Crescent. In response, Iranian attacks resulted in the death of ten people in Israel and six American military personnel in U.S. bases in the Middle East.
