New Delhi: US President Donald Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would have “no choice” but to accept any agreement negotiated between
Washington and Tehran, adding that he alone would determine the course of US policy toward Iran.
“He won’t have any choice,” Trump told the Financial Times in an interview. “I call the shots. I call all the shots. He doesn’t call the shots.”
Trump’s remarks came shortly after Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel, while Tel Aviv retaliating by targeting multiple Iranian cities.
‘Iran strikes won’t impact peace deal’
In a separate interview to Fox News, the US president said that he would instruct Netanyahu not to retaliate against Iran for the missile attack.
Despite the escalation, Trump said the strikes would not derail ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
“It’s not going to have any impact on the deal,” he said. “We’ll see how it ends up. But they were attacks that did not kick at all.”
Trump added that the missile barrage would not alter his approach to diplomacy with Iran.
“The deal may make it on its own merit, or not, but this will not have any effect on it,” he said.
However, Trump sounded less confident than in previous weeks about the prospects of an imminent agreement.
“I think the deal is going on,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”
‘Will attack Iran if no deal’
Asked about the consequences if negotiations failed, Trump suggested the United States could consider further military action against Iran.
“It means one of two things,” he said. “Number one, it would mean that possibly we would go in and take care of the rest of the place that we didn’t take care of militarily. Or it would just mean that we would keep the blockade on Iran.”
He added that the blockade had been “probably more powerful than any attack that was ever made on that country”.
Trump’s comments come amid growing tensions between Washington and Jerusalem over the handling of the Iran crisis.
Trump lashed out at Netanyahu last week
The remarks came after reports mentioned of a heated exchange between Trump and Netanyahu last week. According to Axios, Trump criticised the Israeli leader during a phone call. The report quoted Trump as telling Netanyahu: “You’re crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me.”
Trump confirmed that the conversation had taken place and did not dispute the characterisation of the exchange.
Meanwhile, the exchange between Iran and Israel will likely further destabilise the already volatile West Asia, where a nearly four months war has cascading effects on energy security of around the world.
