US President Donald Trump gave an interview to CNBC on Thursday, in which he commented on the situation vis-a-vis Iran and stated that Iran has agreed to “just about everything we need".
“We were in Afghanistan for like 10 years. We were in the Korean War forever. We were in, I don't even mention World War I and World War II, they're biggies, but you know what, stuff like this could have led to it. But we were in many, many years in every war," Trump said.
“I've been [in Iran] for four months. And what have I done? I've defeated them militarily. They're totally defeated militarily. They have some missiles left, we could wipe them out too. And I hit them three times last week, very hard, because they sent a drone into a ship. I hit them. Then they did something else and I hit them. I hit them three nights in a row. The week before I hit them two nights in a row, very hard," he continued.
Trump said that negotiations with Iran are continuing, adding, “I think they've agreed to just about everything we need."
The President repeated previous claims, which have been rejected by Tehran, that the US plans to use some frozen Iranian funds to purchase American agricultural products for Iran.
“They have 300% inflation. They're making no money. So we're going to take some of the money and we're going to buy them…they need food. They need corn and wheat and soybeans, and we're going to have exclusively our American farmers provide that, assuming we get to the position where we should get to. I think we're going to get there. Their strength is gone. Their bravado is gone, although they keep up a pretty good front," said Trump.
Trump also once again criticized American Jews who vote for Democrats.
"How a Jewish person can vote for a Democrat is beyond me. I've been the best president in the history of Israel and they acknowledge it…and by the way, IN Israel, I think I was at 99% or something…but you can’t let Iran - whether it’s Israel, the Middle East or not - you can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon," he said.
The interview comes as the US and Iran continue their engagement in an attempt to reach a permanent deal after signing a Memorandum of Understanding.
Despite the talks, military tensions escalated over the weekend, as the US twice struck Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz in response to Iranian violations of the ceasefire.
Trump warned on Saturday night that the US may be forced to “militarily complete the job" if Iran continued to violate the ceasefire.
Iran later denied that its negotiators would be meeting with Americans in Qatar, claiming that, while a delegation of experts would travel to Qatar's capital this week for discussions on the implementation of the memorandum of understanding with the US, no meetings would be happening between the two countries.
Trump, however, confirmed to reporters the planned meetings in Qatar with Iranian officials, saying they would be "perhaps important, perhaps not".