President Donald Trump early Friday insisted that Iran “must make a deal” over its nuclear program and said there is time for the country to prevent further bloodshed even after Israel’s deadly strikes on Tehran and other targets.
“I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal,” Trump posted on his Truth Social page. “I told them, in the strongest of words, to ‘just do it,’ but no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn’t get it done.”
He continued that he “told them it would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told, that the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come – And they know how to use it.”
“Certain Iranian hardliner’s spoke bravely, but they didn’t know what was about to happen,” Trump added. “They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse! There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end. Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire. No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. God Bless You All!”
Nearly two hours later, again posted about Iran.
“Two months ago I gave Iran a 60 day ultimatum to ‘make a deal.’ They should have done it! Today is day 61. I told them what to do, but they just couldn’t get there. Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!” Trump wrote.
Trump’s post comes after Israel launched strikes targeting nuclear and ballistic missile factories and killing two top military commanders during the start of its operation aimed at keeping Tehran from building a nuclear weapon.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned of “severe punishment” in the wake of Israel’s attacks, which hit several sites including Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz. Israel said it also destroyed radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in Western Iran.
Gen. Hossein Salami, the leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, have been confirmed dead, according to Iranian state television reports.
Other top military officials and scientists were also killed, according to Khamenei.
Iran has fired more than 100 drones at Israel, which said the weapons were intercepted outside its airspace.