US President Donald Trump said he was one hour away from authorising fresh military strikes on Iran before deciding to temporarily hold back, warning that the reprieve for Tehran could last only till next week.
Trump, while speaking to reporters, said, “I was an hour away” from striking Iran on Monday." Rapid Response also shared a video clip on X in which Trump said the US was fully prepared for military action.
“I was an hour away. But we're all set to go. We were gonna be striking very, it would have been happening right now,” Trump said.
“The boats, the ships are all loaded. They're loaded to the brim. We were all set to start.”
The US President said he paused the operation after being told there could still be room for diplomacy with Tehran.
“They knew I was getting ready to attack,” Trump said. “I had made the decision. So they called up… and said, ‘Sir, could you give us a couple of more days? Because we think they're being reasonable.'”
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Trump indicated the window for negotiations would be brief.
“Well, I mean, I'm saying two or three days, maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday, something. Maybe early next week. A limited period of time,” he said.
Reiterating his long-standing opposition to Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, Trump said the stakes extended far beyond the region.
“Because we can't let them have a nuclear weapon,” he said. “If they had a nuclear weapon, they would start with Israel. They would blow it up fast.”
Trump further claimed Iran would eventually target key US allies in the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
“And I'll tell you what, they'd go after Saudi Arabia. They'd go after Kuwait. They'd go after UAE. They'd go after Qatar. They'd go after, I think, the entire Middle East,” he said.
Calling Iranian leaders “extremely radicalized,” Trump added: “There's no question in my mind that they'd use it. The only question would be the first minute, the first hour, or the first day.”
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