As negotiations between the US and Iran aimed at ending the conflict continue, President Donald Trump has tried to explain why his administration has been unable to finalise a peace deal.
In an interview with NBC's Meet The Press, he said Iran's ruling regime was “proud and strong”, which made for slow progress in negotiations. “It's a very hard thing for them,” he told NBC's Kristen Welker.
Mr Trump pointed out that Iran's rulers have had “great independence” for several decades and said previous White House administrations had given the regime in Tehran too much autonomy, without consequences.
“They've dealt with very weak and ineffective leadership on behalf of the US – and other countries, by the way – that frankly allowed them to get away with murder,” the US President said.
US and Israeli strikes on Iran have proved unpopular in US public opinion polls. Iran's response to those strikes, hampering the movement of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, has led to sharply rising fuel prices worldwide, as well as mounting anger about the initial strikes that sought to change the ruling regime in Tehran.
Mr Trump has since insisted the strikes were largely to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
During the interview, recorded on Friday but broadcast on Sunday, Mr Trump acknowledged that while he has repeatedly said Iran's military has been destroyed by US strikes, the country still has some strike capability. “They have some missiles, they have some drones,” he said. “It’s a lot of missiles, but it’s not what it was when we first attacked.”
Mr Trump has often insisted Iran is desperate to reach a deal, which has worked in favour of the US during negotiations. On Sunday, however, he was pressed on why a deal has yet to materialise. “Because they're strong, they're proud,” he said of the Iranians.
Mr Trump continued to blame his predecessors for his current predicament. “This should have been done long ago, this should have been done by other presidents, or other countries,” he said.
He boasted of bringing about the end of the nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, signed in 2015, under former US president Barack Obama, which Mr Trump insisted had put Iran on the path to obtaining a nuclear weapon.
During the interview, he was pressed on why his administration has yet to come up “better deal”, a pledge around which he had campaigned heavily.
“Excuse me,” he said, interrupting the question. “It takes years to do these things, these people have been fighting for 47 years.” He insisted the White House was “moving very fast” and added that the “Vietnam War lasted 19 years”.
Mr Trump said a double standard is being applied to his Iran strategy. “If I were a Democrat, nobody would be asking me about this,” he added.
