US President Donald Trump warned on Thursday that he is not going to be patient with Iran much longer.
His comments came in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, which followed his meeting in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“I’m not going to be much more patient. No, I'm not. They should make a deal. Any sane person would make a deal, but they might be crazy," Trump clarified.
He further said that the purpose of the war in Iran is “to help Israel and to help Saudi Arabia and to help Qatar and UAE and, you know, Kuwait and other countries."
“I told [Xi] today, I said, ‘You know, we're helping you and we're helping you in another way’ because I don't think China wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon either. I said, just don't go crazy. You don't need them having a nuclear weapon either," continued Trump.
Hannity asked Trump whether Xi agreed with him that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon, to which Trump replied, “Yeah, I think. No, he would like to see it end."
On the issue of retrieving the enriched uranium in Iran, the President said, “We were thinking about doing it early on, and it would take a while, it would take a week and a half, that's a long time, to be in enemy territory."
“No, I don't think it's necessary, except from a public relations standpoint. I think it's important for the fake news that we get it. I'm the one that said we're going to get it, and we're going to get it. We have our eye on it," he added.
Trump declared that “if we left right now, it would take around 25 years to rebuild, and it can never be like it was. It would take 25 years. I would rather get [the enriched uranium], but we have our eyes on it. You know, we know exactly what's happening there…if they send a force over there to try, all we'll do is just hit it with a couple of bombs, and that's going to be the end of that. We have nine cameras on that site, on those three sites, 24 hours a day. We know exactly what's happening."
The interview aired hours after Trump hinted that the war against Iran is not yet over and the military decimation of the Islamic Republic could continue.
The comment was made as part of a longer post on Truth Social following Trump’s visit to China.
“When President Xi very elegantly referred to the United States as perhaps being a declining nation, he was referring to the tremendous damage we suffered during the four years of Sleepy Joe Biden and the Biden Administration, and on that score, he was 100% correct. Our Country suffered immeasurably with open borders, high taxes, transgender for everybody, men in women’s sports, DEI, horrible trade deals, rampant crime, and so much more!" wrote Trump.
“President Xi was not referring to the incredible rise that the United States has displayed to the world during the 16 spectacular months of the Trump Administration, which includes all-time high stock markets and 401K’s, military victory and thriving relationship in Venezuela, the military decimation of Iran (to be continued!)," he added.
Trump, who has repeatedly said that he would not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons, repeated this stance on Tuesday before taking off for China.
Speaking to reporters, Trump warned the Islamic Republic it must accept the US terms for a deal to end the war and address its nuclear program.
“They’ll either do the right thing, or we’ll finish the job," Trump said, rejecting the idea that rising prices in the US pushed him to seek an end to the war.