WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump would not say Wednesday whether he has decided to order a U.S. strike on Iran, a move that Tehran warned anew would be greeted with stiff retaliation if it happens.
“I may do it, I may not do it,” Trump said in an exchange with reporters at the White House . “I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
Trump added that it’s not “too late” for Iran to give up its nuclear program as he continues to weigh direct U.S. involvement in Israel’s military operations aimed at crushing Tehran’s nuclear program.
“Nothing’s too late,” Trump said. “I can tell you this. Iran’s got a lot of trouble.”
“Nothing is finished until it is finished,” Trump added. But “the next week is going to be very big— maybe less than a week.”
Trump also offered a terse response to Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s refusal to heed to his call for Iran to submit to an unconditional surrender.
“I say good luck,” Trump said.
Khamenei earlier Wednesday warned that any United States strikes targeting the Islamic Republic will “result in irreparable damage for them” and that his country would not bow to Trump’s call for surrender.
Trump said Tuesday the U.S. knows where Iran’s Khamenei is hiding as the the Israel-Iran conflict escalates but doesn’t want him killed — “for now.”
“He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,” Trump said.
Trump’s increasingly muscular comments toward the Iranian government come after he urged Tehran’s 9.5 million residents to flee for their lives as he cut short his participation in an international summit earlier this week to return to Washington for urgent talks with his national security team.
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