US President Donald Trump on Monday touted his deal-making abilities while addressing questions about the Iran-US peace agreement, as well as his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump made the remarks at the White House when asked by reporters how he would ensure that Netanyahu does not โsabotageโ the agreement reached between Washington and Tehran.
Notably, Israel has continued its strikes in Lebanon despite the issue being one of the key points in the 14-point proposal underpinning the US-Iran deal.
“Iโm not going to tell you what Iโm going to do, but it gets solved. I’m a problem solver. I get problems solved real fast, including with Bibi,” he said.
We will remain in Lebanon, says Netanyahu
Trumpโs remarks came after Netanyahu stated that Israeli forces would continue to maintain a presence in Lebanon. Defending Israelโs actions against militant groups operating there, Netanyahu argued that the United States would have responded similarly if its own citizens were under threat. He also reiterated his longstanding position on Iran, vowing that Tehran would never acquire nuclear weapons as long as he remains in power.
“No matter what happens in the talks, with an agreement, without an agreement, I pledge to you that Iran, as long as I’m Prime Minister, will never have a nuclear weapon. Never. As long as I am the Prime Minister of Israel, I will not let that happen… As long as we need to protect our people, we will remain in the security zone in South Lebanon… No country would be asked to do otherwise,โ Netanyahu said.
โNow you imagine the United States across the border. You have thousands, an army of thousands of terrorists who pellet your cities and your towns with rockets and ballistic missiles and killer drones. They kill your soldiers, they kill your citizens, they kill your children and they threaten them every day. Well, what would America do? Would it say, well, there’s nothing we can do. Let’s hold our fire. Is that what America would say? No. You know well what America would do. It would cross the border, create a security zone, kill the terrorists and protect its people until the threat is removed. That’s exactly what we are doing,” he added.ย
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