WASHINGTON
\nU.S. President Donald Trump sharply criticized Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamanei, on Friday, dropped plans to lift sanctions on Iran and said he would consider bombing Iran again if Tehran is enriching uranium to worrisome levels.
\nTrump reacted sternly to Khamanei\u2019s first remarks after a 12-day conflict with Israel that ended when the United States launched bombing raids last weekend against Iranian nuclear sites.
\nKhamanei said Iran \u201cslapped America in the face\u201d by launching an attack against a major U.S. base in Qatar following the U.S. bombing raids. Khamanei also said Iran would never surrender.
\nTrump said he had spared Khamanei\u2019s life. U.S. officials told Reuters on June 15 that Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to kill the supreme leader.
\n\u201cHis Country was decimated, his three evil Nuclear Sites were OBLITERATED, and I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces, by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World, terminate his life,\u201d Trump said in a social media post.
\n\u201cI SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH,\u201d he said.
\nIran said a potential nuclear deal was conditional on the U.S. ending its \u201cdisrespectful tone\u201d toward the Supreme Leader.
\n\u201cIf President Trump is genuine about wanting a deal, he should put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, and stop hurting his millions of heartfelt followers,\u201d Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on X in the early hours of Saturday.
\nTrump also said that in recent days he had been working on the possible removal of sanctions on Iran to give it a chance for a speedy recovery. He said he had now abandoned that effort.
\n\u201cI get hit with a statement of anger, hatred, and disgust, and immediately dropped all work on sanction relief, and more,\u201d he said.
\nTrump said at a White House news conference that he did not rule out attacking Iran again, when asked about the possibility of new bombing of Iranian nuclear sites if deemed necessary at some point.
\n\u201cSure, without question, absolutely,\u201d he said.
\nTrump said he would like inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency – the U.N. nuclear watchdog – or another respected source to be able to inspect Iran\u2019s nuclear sites after they were bombed last weekend.
\nTrump has rejected any suggestion that damage to the sites was not as profound as he has said.
\nThe IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi, said on Wednesday that ensuring the resumption of IAEA inspections was his top priority as none had taken place since Israel began bombing on June 13.
\nHowever, Iran\u2019s parliament approved moves on Wednesday to suspend such inspections. Araqchi indicated on Friday that Tehran may reject any request by the head of the agency for visits to Iranian nuclear sites.
\nTrump said at a White House news conference that he did not rule out attacking Iran again, when asked about the possibility of new bombing of Iranian nuclear sites if deemed necessary at some point.
\n\u201cSure, without question, absolutely,\u201d he said.
\nTrump said he would like inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency – the U.N. nuclear watchdog – or another respected source to be able to inspect Iran\u2019s nuclear sites after they were bombed last weekend.
\nTrump has rejected any suggestion that damage to the sites was not as profound as he has said.
\nThe IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi, said on Wednesday that ensuring the resumption of IAEA inspections was his top priority as none had taken place since Israel began bombing on June 13.
\nHowever, Iran\u2019s parliament approved moves on Wednesday to suspend such inspections. Araqchi indicated on Friday that Tehran may reject any request by the head of the agency for visits to Iranian nuclear sites.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump sharply criticized Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamanei, on Friday, dropped plans to lift sanctions on Iran and said he would consider bombing Iran again if Tehran is enriching uranium to worrisome levels. Trump reacted sternly to Khamanei\u2019s first remarks after a 12-day conflict with Israel that ended when the United […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487242,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-487219","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n