By Gram Slattery and Nandita Bose
RIYADH (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday called Iran the “most destructive force” in the Middle East, blaming Tehran for instability across the region and warning that the United States will never allow it to obtain a nuclear weapon.
Offering what he described as both a final warning and a potential opening for diplomacy, Trump said Iran has a choice between continuing its “chaos and terror” or embracing a path toward peace.
Tehran has repeatedly denied accusations of fomenting Middle East instability.
Trump said he was willing to strike a new deal with the Islamic Republic but only if its leaders changed course.
“I want to make a deal with Iran,” he said. “But if Iran’s leadership rejects this olive branch…, we will have no choice but to inflict massive maximum pressure.”
Speaking at an investment summit in the Saudi capital Riyadh, Trump warned that “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon”, and said his offer for a deal won’t last forever.
Trump also drew a stark contrast between what he called the “constructive vision” of Saudi Arabia and the “collapse and suffering” he said had been caused by Iranian leaders.
“There could be no sharper contrast with the path you have pursued on the Arabian Peninsula than the disaster unfolding right across in the Gulf of Iran,” Trump added.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery in Riyadh and Nandita Bose in Washington; editing by Nick Zieminski and Mark Heinrich)
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