‘What happens if you buy a nuclear weapon?’: Trump claims Iran agrees not to develop or purchase nuclear weapons

US President Donald Trump has said that Iran has agreed not only to refrain from developing nuclear weapons but also from acquiring them through any means, describing the commitment as a significant shift in the ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran. Speaking to reporters, Trump said securing a guarantee that Iran would not possess nuclear weapons remained his top priority and suggested that a broader agreement could pave the way for the immediate reopening of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.

“I would rather get a deal, because we can open the Strait immediately upon signing. The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons,” Trump said. According to Trump, Iran initially agreed only that it would not develop a nuclear weapon. However, he said the language was later expanded following discussions over the possibility of Tehran obtaining such weapons from external sources.

“They originally said we would not develop a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “I said, well, what happens if you buy a nuclear weapon? So now it says we will not develop or in any way purchase a military weapon. That’s a big difference.” Trump added that negotiations had been challenging but were moving in the direction sought by the United States. “We’re getting what we want slowly, very tough negotiators, and it takes a long time, but I’m in no hurry,” he said.

The US president also claimed that Washington had largely spared Iran’s conventional military forces while targeting other parts of the country’s leadership structure and military capabilities. “Their navy is totally gone, 100 per cent. Their air force is totally gone, 100 per cent,” Trump said. “Their military, we sort of left it alone, because we think that their military is somewhat, somewhat moderate.”

Trump said the United States had instead focused on other elements of Iran’s leadership and military infrastructure.

“We’ve taken different forms of leadership out, we’ve actually left their military alone. People would be surprised to hear that, because mistakes have been made in wars where you wipe out everybody, and then you have a country that, for 40 years, can never rebuild,” he said.

Drawing a comparison with past US military interventions, Trump pointed to Iraq as an example of the long-term consequences of dismantling a country’s institutions.

“You look at what happened with Iraq,” he added.