Trump criticises Europe's mediation efforts in Israel-Iran conflict
Trenton, June 21 (UNI) US President Donald Trump has heavily criticised Europe's efforts to end the Iran-Israel conflict through diplomatic means, stating 'Europe is not going to help in this.'
'They didn't help. Iran doesn't want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this,' Trump claimed, reports Times of Israel.
Senior European officials from the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, and several other EU nations had met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbass Araghchi in Geneva on Friday, hoping to strike an accord. However, the attempts proved fruitless.
Trump said he will 'always (be) a peacemaker,' but 'sometimes you need some toughness to make peace.'
Answering reporters upon his arrival in New Jersey, Trump, when asked whether the US would intervene militarily, said 'That's the last thing you want to do,' adding that he was giving 'Iran some time', referring to the two weeks he had given Iran to come to deal before Trump seriously considers US military intervention.
Asked if US is potentially being dragged into the deadly conflict under false pretexts, Trump said that in the case of the Iraq war over 20 years ago, there were no weapons of mass destruction.
In the current scenario, however, Iran has amassed a 'tremendous amount of material' and was 'within a matter of weeks, or certainly within a matter of months (from being) able to have a nuclear weapon.'
Talking about US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard's March assessment to Congress that Iran had not made a decision to build a nuclear weapon, he contradicted her and said 'She's wrong.'
In a subsequent post on X, Gabbard said her testimony was taken out of context 'as a way to manufacture division.'
'America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalise the assembly,' she wrote. 'President Trump has been clear that can't happen, and I agree.'
Asked whether he would allow Iran to have a civilian nuclear program in which it could enrich at low, non-weapons grade levels, Trump questioned why Tehran needs such a capacity, given how much oil it has.
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