Trump announces he will meet with Iranians to close a nuclear deal

( JPost )

The US will hold talks with Iranian leadership next week in a bid to close a nuclear deal, US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday at a press conference at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands.

He later said that he was not sure if the US needed to make a deal with Iran at all due to the levels of destruction at the Iranian nuclear facilities.

At the press conference, Trump read the statement from the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission, saying that all the enriched uranium Iran had was inside the sites that were bombed. "It is very difficult to move it," he said.

Trump, throughout his speech, stressed the level of devastation the US strikes caused at Iran's nuclear facilities, while calling all media reports from CNN and The New York Times "fake news."

Trump also compared the US strikes on the Iranian nuclear facilities to the US bombing of Hiroshima, alleging that the US strikes on the nuclear facilities ended the war between Israel and Iran, similar to how World War II ended.

Trump said Israel and Iran are tired, but the conflict between the two countries could start again someday.

"I dealt with both, and they're both tired and exhausted... Can it start again? I guess someday, it can. It could maybe start soon," Trump told reporters.

He added that he did convince Israel to turn around its 52 planes en route to Iran when the country violated the ceasefire agreement.

Sanctions on Iran and Iran strike on Qatar

"[Iran] fought [the war] bravely...they will need money to put the country back into shape," Trump explained when asked about Iran having the ability to sell oil to China. Trump said that the US is allowing them to sell it.

He said he has not given up on his maximum pressure sanctions campaign against Iran when asked by a reporter in a follow-up question.

Trump also confirmed previous Jerusalem Post reports that Iranians gave the US advanced warning of the attack and its timing at the US base in Qatar. Everyone at the base was able to evacuate ahead of the 1 p.m. fire, Trump said.