"I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon. Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens,” ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED," Trump wrote.
"I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper. We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed. God Bless the Middle East!"
Trump intends to sign an executive order resuming a “maximum pressure” campaign on the Islamic Republic of Iran, a U.S. official told Reuters on Tuesday.
The order is aimed at denying the Iranian regime all paths to nuclear weapons and countering Tehran’s malign regional influence, the official stated.
The order directs U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to impose maximum economic pressure, including via sanctions and enforcement mechanisms on those violating existing measures.
After Trump signs the order, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will work with Bessent to modify or rescind existing sanction waivers to drive the Islamic regime’s oil exports to zero, the official said.
Iran is seeking to quickly build a crude nuclear device, with the aim of deterring a Western attack, The New York Times reported on Monday, citing U.S. officials.
The assessment is based on intelligence collected during the final months of the Biden administration and passed on to Trump’s national security team during the transition, the officials said.
Iran has the knowledge to make an “older-style nuclear weapon, one that could be put together far faster than the more sophisticated designs Tehran has considered in the past,” the Times reported.
Iran likely obtained the weapon’s blueprints from Pakistani nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan (1936-2021), according to the report.
Although such a weapon would not fit on a ballistic missile and would be less reliable than more modern ones, it could be built faster and would serve as a deterrent against attack.
