US President Donald Trump confirmed on Thursday that Iran killing US troops would be a pretext to resume the fighting.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump was asked whether he would restart the war with Iran if they killed US troops and replied, “Well, it would be a good reason. If they killed US troops, I think I would do that very quickly."
The President’s comments follow a Wednesday report in The Wall Street Journal which cited US officials who stated that Trump had privately told aides that he would consider ending the ceasefire with Iran if Tehran kills American troops.
Those same officials insisted that the current ceasefire remains intact despite recent violent skirmishes, including on Tuesday night when the US Army conducted strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island, with Iran responding by launching missiles and drones toward Kuwait.
In his remarks on Thursday, Trump commented on a potential deal with Iran and said that former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama “inspired" Iran to have a nuclear weapon.
“The Obama deal, I terminated that or they would have had a nuclear…that was a road to a nuclear weapon. Our deal - if we make that deal and it's going well but who knows - if we make that deal it's the exact opposite. They will never have a nuclear weapon. I'm not going to let them have a nuclear weapon," he stated.
He also said he was not considering a covert operation to seize Iran’s enriched uranium, adding that there is no reason to get the so-called “nuclear dust" as it is entombed.
Trump also was asked about the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, which was announced on Wednesday night, and rejected an assertion by a reporter that Hezbollah rejected the ceasefire.
“Hezbollah didn't reject anything. They called us, and they said, 'How about stopping?'" he said.
Trump added, “Lebanon has been under attack for so many years and is always like an underdog. It would be really nice if it could end. I spoke to Bibi Netanyahu about that, and I speak to them about it and I actually spoke to Hezbollah about it."