US President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that Iran “has to get rid of the concept of a nuclear weapon. They cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
In a meeting with President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador, Trump said, "We've got a problem with Iran, but I'll solve that problem, that's almost an easy one."
Trump asserted that the Islamic Republic "wants to deal with us, but they don’t know how." He added that "Iran could be a great country as long as it doesn’t have nuclear weapons."
This comes after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told his Iraqi counterpart that the second round of nuclear talks with the US would be held soon in Rome, Iraqi media reported.
Striking Iran
Trump told reporters during the meeting that he thinks that Iran could be stringing the US along for nuclear talks.
“We had a meeting with them on Saturday. We have another meeting scheduled for next Saturday. I said, ‘That’s a long time.’ You know, that’s a long time. So I think they might be tapping us along," he said, as reported by CNN.
He added that Tehran should abandon any drive for a nuclear weapon or face harsh consequences that could include a military strike on Tehran's nuclear facilities.
"Of course it does," Trump said when asked if a potential response could include strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
"If we have to do something very harsh, we’ll do it."