President Trump stopped short Friday of threatening military strikes against Iran, but said the U.S. will not allow the Islamic regime to get nuclear weapons.
“I don’t talk about whether or not I will use military force. They will not be doing nuclear weapons. You can bank on it,” Mr. Trump said.
He issued the warning at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who during her White House visit was trying to convince Mr. Trump not to quit the Iran nuclear deal.
Mr. Trump has set a May 12 deadline to decide the fate of the Obama-era agreements that Germany helped negotiate. Mr. Trump has said that he wants to exit the deal, but which could free Iran to restart its nuclear weapon development.
Ms. Merkel called the nuke deal, which only halts the weapons program until 2025, a “first step.” She said that she agreed with Mr. Trump that more restriction had to be imposed on Iran to permanently stop its nuclear program, missile development and support of terrorism throughout the Middle East.
That’s the same stance taken by French President Emmanuel Macron who was hosted on the administration’s first state visit earlier this week. France also is a signatory to the Iran nuclear deal.
Ms. Merkel said that cracking down on Iran beyond the measures in the nuclear agreement should be a priority. She said Germany and the U.S. should be “in lock step” on this issue.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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