Trump threatens Iran would be ‘obliterated’ if it assassinates him – as he signs ‘tough’ directive against Tehran
Donald Trump has reinstated his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran – as he threatened Tehran it would be “obliterated” if it assassinates him.
The US president signed a memorandum on Tuesday in an effort to crack down on Iran’s nuclear programme and restrict oil exports – moments before he met Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mr Trump said he also signed the “tough” directive on Iran because Tehran was “too close” to having a nuclear weapon.
He added he would hold talks with his counterpart in Tehran, but warned he has left “instructions” for his advisers that if Iran assassinated him, the US foe “would be obliterated”.
The US Justice Department announced in federal charges in November that an Iranian plot to kill Mr Trump before the presidential election had been thwarted.
The department alleged Iranian officials had instructed Farhad Shakeri, 51, to focus on surveilling and ultimately assassinating Mr Trump. Shakeri is still at large in Iran.
It comes as Mr Trump withdrew the US from the UN Human Rights Council in an executive order.
Pic: AP
The president has also stopped funding of the UN’s relief agency for Gaza.
The order means Mr Trump has reinstated policies that were in place during his first administration.
Joe Biden’s administration previously paused funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) after reports its staff were involved in the 7 October attacks.
Mr Trump also claimed that Palestinians have “no alternative” but to leave Gaza, but that he doesn’t necessarily support Israelis settling in the enclave.
Trump maximises leverage over Iran by squeezing where it hurts most
Leverage is the most important thing in negotiations, Donald Trump said in his book The Art Of The Deal. “Don’t make deals without it.”
The US president has just maximised his leverage over Iran’s government, squeezing it where it hurts most.
Oil sales. The move will hurt Iran’s economy already in deep trouble and could lead to more social unrest.
But the impact does not stop there. The global price of oil has already jumped on the news.
The US president also repeated previous suggestions that he would like to see Jordan and Egypt take Palestinians from Gaza.
“The Gaza thing has never worked,” Trump told reporters.
“If we could find the right piece of land, pieces of land, and build them some really nice places…I think that would be a lot better than going back to Gaza.”
Egypt and Jordan, as well other Arab nations, have flatly rejected calls by Trump to relocate the territory’s population during post-war rebuilding of the territory.
The UN estimates that 60% of structures in the enclave have been damaged or destroyed, with almost all of the 2.3 million people in Gaza having been forced to leave their homes during Israel’s 15-month war to take shelter elsewhere in the territory.
Meanwhile, the president said he thinks he will wind down the US Agency for International Development (USAID), in what would be a dramatic overhaul of how the world’s largest single donor allocates foreign assistance.
