US President Donald Trump on Sunday accused Iran of “playing games" with the United States and the world for 47 years, while sharply criticizing former President Barack Obama’s handling of relations with the Islamic Republic.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that Iran had delayed negotiations with the United States and “the rest of the World" for decades before allegedly benefiting from the Obama administration’s policies.
“He was not only good to them, he was great, actually going to their side, jettisoning Israel, and all other Allies, and giving Iran a major and very powerful new lease on life," Trump wrote of Obama.
Trump claimed that Iran received “Hundreds of Billions of Dollars" from the United States, including “1.7 Billion Dollars in green cash, flown into Tehran." He added that the money was “handed to them on a silver platter" and alleged that it arrived “in suitcases and satchels."
“They had never seen money like this, and never will again," Trump stated, adding that Iranian officials “finally found the greatest SUCKER of them all, in the form of a weak and stupid American President."
The President also accused Iran of killing Americans with roadside bombs, suppressing protests, and “wiping out 42,000 innocent, unarmed protestors." He concluded the post by declaring, “They will be laughing no longer!"
Earlier in the day, Trump told Full Measure that Iran has been “militarily defeated," while cautioning that the conflict may not yet be over.
“Well, they’re militarily defeated. In their own minds, maybe they don’t know that. But I think they do because I deal with them," Trump said.
“And we cannot ever let Iran have a nuclear weapon," he added. “But they are militarily defeated. They have no Navy. They have no Air Force. They have no anti-aircraft weaponry. They have no radar."
Trump also claimed that Iran’s leadership had been severely weakened.
“They have no leaders. Their leaders are gone. The first set, the A team is gone, the B team is gone, and part of the C team is gone," he stated.
Pressed on whether the conflict had ended, Trump replied, “No, I didn’t say that. I said they are defeated, but that doesn’t mean they are done." He added, “We could go in for two more weeks and do every single target."
Trump repeatedly stressed that Iran cannot be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons.
“We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon because they’re crazy. We cannot let them have access to nuclear," he said.
He also defended his decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement reached during the Obama administration.
“If I didn’t terminate the Iran nuclear deal, they would have had it. And they would have used it on Israel and the Middle East right now," Trump asserted.