US President Donald Trump has described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “a very difficult guy” and said he “should be very thankful” to the United States for its role in securing a deal with Iran.
Speaking to The New York Times after announcing the agreement with Tehran, Trump criticised Netanyahu over Israeli attacks on Lebanon, which he said had nearly jeopardised the final deal.
“He’s a very difficult guy,” Trump said of Netanyahu. “And to be honest with you, he should be very thankful to us for doing this. Because if Iran had a nuclear weapon, Israel wouldn’t be around for two hours.”
Trump also warned that the United States could resume attacks on Iran if the two sides fail to reach a final agreement on Tehran’s nuclear programme.
According to The New York Times, Trump maintained that US missile and bombing strikes on Iran played a decisive role in bringing Tehran to the negotiating table and securing the deal.
“They did not want the third attack,” he said. “They do care about living.”
“The bottom line is that those attacks that we made had a huge impact on having this deal made, a huge impact.”
