President Donald Trump on Sunday said that the remaining obstacle to a nuclear agreement with Iran is ensuring the country can never obtain a nuclear weapon, including through outside purchases, marking a shift from his previous focus on preventing Tehran from developing one itself.
In an interview aired Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press, Trump maintained that U.S. negotiators are “very close” to reaching a deal with Iran and said the country has “conceded” that it will not be able to have a nuclear weapon.
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The president said he wanted to add a clause that prohibits Iran from purchasing a nuclear weapon in order to close any possible loophole that would allow the country to have such a device.
“We had a clause in there, ‘we will not develop nuclear weapons,’ and everybody was very happy with it, except me,” he said. “I said, ‘Well, what happens if they not develop, but they go out and purchase, they acquire?’ I want to put the word, if they buy or purchase or acquire, they’ve got to have that in there too because that’s not developing, so they don’t have the right to develop or purchase, acquire, or buy.”
Dismantling Iran’s nuclear program has been paramount for Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but peace negotiations have fallen through time and time again.
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Trump said that agreeing to a deal and surrendering nuclear ambitions is a “very hard thing” for Iran, which has drawn out the negotiation process. He explained that previous presidents, including Barack Obama, allowed Iran “to get away with murder,” and the country is not used to stern leadership.
“They’ve had great independence,” he said. “They’ve dealt with very weak and ineffective leadership on behalf of the United States and other countries, frankly, that allowed them to get away with murder. … I think they can’t believe they’re in the situation where they’ve been virtually decapitated.”
