BICOM

US President Donald Trump has said he does not want regime change but wants to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

President Trump was speaking about Iran and the nuclear issue during a press conference in Tokyo with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He said: “We aren’t looking for regime change — I just want to make that clear. We are looking for no nuclear weapons.”

Trump said that a deal with Iran to limit its nuclear programme was possible, crediting economic sanctions for curbing violent activities by Iran in the Middle East. He said: “I really believe that Iran would like to make a deal, and I think that’s very smart of them, and I think that’s a possibility to happen. It has a chance to be a great country with the same leadership.”

In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran was not seeking nuclear weapons, which its Supreme Leader had banned in an edict, adding on Twitter that US policies were hurting the Iranian people and causing regional tensions. He said: “Actions — not words — will show whether or not that’s @realDonaldTrump’s intent.”

US National Security Adviser John Bolton over the weekend said the Trump administration had “deep and serious” intelligence concerning threats posed by Iran. He described several recent attacks in the region, such as the attack on oil tankers near the United Arab Emirates and on a pipeline pumping station in Saudi Arabia, as well as a rocket attack in Baghdad’s Green Zone, as “manifestations of concern” about Iran.

On Friday the US announced the deployment of an extra 1,500 troops to the Middle East, describing it as an effort to bolster defences against Iran as it accused the country’s Revolutionary Guards of direct responsibility for the recent attacks.

Tensions have increased between the two countries after a US decision earlier this month to send an aircraft carrier group and B-52 bombers to the region after the US announced that it has credible intelligence of Iranian backed threats to US forces in the Middle East.