President Donald Trump has said the United States remains committed to negotiating a nuclear agreement with Iran but warned that military action remains on the table if diplomacy fails, saying Tehran "cannot have a nuclear weapon."
"We're either going to make a deal or we're going to finish the job. Okay, and it won't be tough to finish the job. I'd rather make a deal, because I don't want to affect 91 million people," Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.
The president said the United States can strike Iran's critical infrastructure if negotiations collapse.
"We can knock down their bridges in one hour, we can knock out their energy supply ... They don't have any money now. We haven't given them any money."
Trump reiterated that preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon remains Washington's red line.
"Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I'm not looking for regime change," he said.
Iran weakened?
Speaking later at a White House Rose Garden Club Lunch, Trump said recent US military operations had significantly degraded Iran's military capabilities and renewed his call for Tehran to reach an agreement.
"We wiped out their navy, their air force, their radar, their leaders. We wiped out everybody," Trump said. "And then I heard they're doing very well. No, they're not doing well at all."
He said Iran "wants to make a deal so badly," adding that Tehran must accept terms preventing it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
"We'll see what happens. They have to make the right deal, because they cannot have a nuclear weapon," Trump said.
"We're gonna win one way or the other. We'll win the nice way or the not nice way."
Trump's comments came after indirect US-Iran talks ended last week without any public sign of a breakthrough, despite a 60-day ceasefire aimed at creating diplomatic space following the conflict triggered by US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.
