‘If they don’t do what they have to do, I will knock out their power plants,’ US president warns
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday he extended Iran’s nuclear negotiation deadline to 10 days partly because Tehran sent him 10 Pakistani-flagged oil tankers as a goodwill gesture, while warning he will strike Iranian power plants if no deal is reached.
“The Iranians asked me to do that, and I wasn’t happy with them. Because we made a statement that we were having productive negotiations. I don’t know that they get there. Maybe they do. Maybe they won’t,” Trump told Fox News in a phone interview.
Iran asked for a seven-day extension, but Trump said he gave them more time “because they gave me ships.”
Warning of consequences if Iran fails to meet the deadline, Trump said: “If they don’t do what they have to do, I will knock out their power plants.”
Regional tensions have escalated since Feb. 28, when the US and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran that has killed more than 1,340 people so far, including then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel and Gulf countries that are home to US military assets.
Trump once again claimed that the US has already significantly degraded Iran’s military capabilities, and said: “We’ve knocked out their navy. We’ve knocked out their air force, completely knocked out their air force, just about completely knocked out. We knocked out 154 ships,” he said, adding that missile launchers had also been destroyed.
“You can’t let a madman, or you can’t let a bad ideology have a nuclear weapon,” he argued, adding that Iran could have threatened not only Israel and the Middle East but the United States as well.
Despite the destruction, Trump said uncertainty remains over Iran’s remaining leadership.
“We know where they all are,” he said, noting: “There are not a lot of takers to be the head of Iran right now.” — Anadolu Agency
