US President Donald Trump has warned Iran it will face a "decapitation" strike unless Tehran agrees to a nuclear deal, telling reporters he was giving the country "every last chance" before ordering military action, as tensions in the Gulf continue to escalate.
Speaking to reporters, Trump was asked why this attempt at negotiations would succeed after he had already called off planned air strikes on Iran at least five times since April. "I don't know. I don't know," he said. "I think we're going to maybe get something, but I want to give him every last chance before decapitation."
He described the planned operation as "very, very tough to do" and said he would "rather not" carry out an attack of that scale, though he noted the US had already conducted several large-scale strikes.
"Hopefully they'll come to their senses because they cannot have a nuclear weapon," he said.
Trump claimed Iranian officials had reached out to Washington to avert the strike.
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"They called me and they said, please don't attack, we'll make a deal. That's the real truth and everyone knows it," he said, adding that Iran had "found out through leaks" about the scale of the planned assault. He said the strike, had it proceeded, "would have gone on for a long time" and left "essentially very little" of its target.
Trump also said leakers should face jail and called for stronger laws against unauthorised disclosures.
Trump added that he was under no political pressure to act quickly, noting he was not himself standing for re-election, though he referenced Republicans currently on the campaign trail facing what he called "a sick ideology."
The remarks come amid a prolonged standoff between Washington and Tehran over Iran's nuclear programme, with talks having stalled repeatedly in recent months despite several rounds of shuttle diplomacy.
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