Trump warns Iran faces ‘obliteration’ but says the United States does not want to go to war

President Trump has said the United States does not want a war but warned Iran it would face ‘obliteration’ if conflict broke out, as senior aids reveal how he agonized over the decision of whether to launch attacks against three Iranian sites. 

Speaking about his decision to NBC on Friday evening, Trump said the US was open to renewed talks with Iran but the possibility of them developing nuclear weapons was out of the question. 

And warned Iran that if conflict does come, there will be ‘obliteration like you’ve never seen before,’ before adding ‘but I’m not looking to do that,’ the president told NBC’s Chuck Todd for ‘Meet the Press.’

Trump said Friday he was ready to attack the sites on Thursday night but he called off the strikes after learning the assault would kill an estimated 150 innocent people.

‘We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it,’ he said in tweets, ‘not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone.’ 

The president gave further insight into his tough decision not to launch attacks against the Iranian sites, adding: ‘I didn’t like it. I didn’t think it was proportionate.’

‘I thought about it for a second and I said, you know what, they shot down an unmanned drone, plane, whatever you want to call it, and here we are sitting with 150 dead people that would have taken place probably within a half an hour after I said go ahead,’ he told NBC.

Tehran claimed that it had received a warning via the Gulf state of Oman that an attack was imminent and that Trump wanted to talk to Iran directly. There was no confirmation of that claim from the US.

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman James Risch, who witnessed Trump’s intense deliberation over whether to attack the Iranian sites, said Trump is a president who  ‘doesn’t want to go to war.’

‘I really watched him agonize over this. It comes down to one man,’ Risch told CNN.

Tensions have continued to surmount between the two countries, with the US accusing Iran of attack oil tankers in the region, after Iran announced it would soon exceed international agreed limits on its nuclear programme.

Tensions have continued to surmount between the two countries, with the US accusing Iran of attack oil tankers in the region, after Iran announced it would soon exceed international agreed limits on its nuclear programme (Iran says the above are debris from a downed US drone recovered inside its territorial waters)

The announcement comes after the US last year pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal – brokered by the Obama-administration – which was aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear activities. 

The US has now asked the UN Security Council to meet on Monday to discuss Iran. 

‘We have additional avenues of sanctions pressure to impose. We have got additional sanctions for sure,’ a senior administration official said, according to CNN.

‘I would not say that the President is thinking about military options. The primary thing we’re thinking about is additional sanctions.’

This official cautioned, however, that the President has not taken military action entirely off the table. ‘That’s an option the President maintains at all times,’ said this official, adding ‘that’s really the President’s call.’

Trump said there were no pre-conditions for US talks with Tehran.

‘You can’t have nuclear weapons,’ Trump said. ‘And if you want to talk about it, good. Otherwise, you can live in a shattered economy for a long time to come.’