US President Donald Trump is "deadly serious" about preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, but remains willing to negotiate with Tehran. This was stated by US National Security Advisor Mike Walz in an interview with Fox News.
„I can say what the president has said many times, namely that Iran should never have nuclear weapons. This will have existential significance not only for Israel. "I think it has existential significance for the entire world because it could trigger a nuclear arms race in the Middle East," he said.
Waltz declined to comment on exactly how Washington would act on Iran. "The president has expressed his willingness to take whatever action is necessary." "All options are on the table, but one of them is negotiations with Iran if Tehran is willing to give up its entire program and not play games like we've seen in the past," the aide said.
“I can guarantee you that President Trump is dead serious, dead serious when he says that Iran will never be able to have a nuclear bomb, and certainly not during a Trump presidency, because they are an irrational player that we cannot allow to have their finger on the button,” Walz said.
On February 7, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that negotiations with the United States were impossible because they had already deceived his country once. Washington signed the nuclear deal in 2015, failed to fulfill its terms, failed to lift anti-Iran sanctions and unilaterally terminated the agreement in 2018, Khamenei recalled.
On February 10, Trump expressed the opinion that Tehran could be stopped from developing nuclear weapons either "with bombs" or by signing a deal. He added that he would like to make a deal with the Islamic Republic without resorting to "bombing".