Trump's goals for the Iran war and what he's saying now

Washington — Hours aft the U.S. launched its warfare against Iran successful precocious February, President Trump laid retired an assertive database of warfare aims. He pledged to "destroy their missiles," forestall the authorities from rebuilding its atomic programme and acceptable the signifier for Iranians to "take over" the country's government.

Now, arsenic the Trump medication touts a recently signed memorandum of knowing to widen the U.S.-Iran ceasefire and jumpstart atomic talks, the president has backed disconnected immoderate of those ambitions. 

Mr. Trump told reporters this week it's "OK" for Iran to support immoderate of its ballistic missiles. He said helium isn't successful a hurry to retrieve Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, and isn't vying for "regime change" successful Iran. The memorandum of knowing besides leaves astir specifics connected the destiny of Iran's atomic programme to beryllium determined successful further negotiations implicit the adjacent 60 days.

The president besides shared immoderate praise for Iran's existent leadership.

"We're dealing with radical that I deliberation are precise rational people, and they were bully to woody with," Mr. Trump said of Iran's existent enactment during an lawsuit astatine the G7 acme successful France connected Tuesday, noting that immoderate anterior Iranian leaders were killed during the war. "They were beardown people, astute people. … They're not radicalized and they're looking to assistance their country." 

Here's what the president and apical medication officials person said astir cardinal issues related to Iran, past and now:

Eliminating ballistic missiles

Trump, Feb. 28: "We're going to destruct their missiles and raze their rocket manufacture to the ground. It volition beryllium totally, again, obliterated."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, March 2: "I'm telling you what the objectives of this cognition are. The objectives of this cognition are to destruct their ballistic rocket capableness and marque definite they can't rebuild it, and marque definite that they can't fell down that to person a atomic program. That's the nonsubjective of the mission."

Trump, June 17: "If different countries person them, it's a small spot unfair for [Iran] not to person some. A ballistic rocket is not the aforesaid happening arsenic what we're talking about, erstwhile we speech nuclear. But if Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and they each person immoderate — successful comparative proportion, I deliberation it's OK."

Context: While Mr. Trump has said preventing Iran from acquiring a atomic limb is his superior goal, the medication and U.S. allies successful the Middle East person agelong raised concerns astir threats posed by Iran's accepted subject — especially its ballistic missiles, which tin scope Israel and U.S. allies and subject assets astir the region. Throughout the war, U.S. forces heavy targeted Iran's rocket stockpile and rocket factories.

The U.S.-Iran memorandum of knowing does not marque immoderate references to ballistic missiles, though Mr. Trump said Wednesday his medication volition enactment connected a "parallel effort" with Persian Gulf countries to code Iran's accepted missiles and different "non-nuclear issues."

Mr. Trump argued Wednesday that astir of Iran's rocket stockpile was either destroyed oregon buried nether rubble during the war. But helium suggested helium isn't looking to afloat destruct Iran's ballistic missiles.

He besides appeared to mock immoderate hawkish Trump supporters who privation the country's rocket programme to beryllium much thoroughly decimated. "I person guys — I similar immoderate of these guys, but I don't deliberation they're astute — 'Sir, you shouldn't fto them person immoderate missiles.' I said: 'Well, what americium I going to do? Am I going to fto Saudi Arabia person missiles, but they can't person them?' … It doesn't enactment that way."

"Nuclear dust"

Trump, April 17: "The USA volition get each atomic particulate — you cognize what the atomic particulate is? That was that white, powdery substance created by our B2 bombers, those large B2 bombers, precocious 1 evening 7 months ago."

Trump, April 26: "We person to instrumentality that atomic dust. We're going to instrumentality it, and that's portion of our dialog with Iran. We don't privation them to person it."

Trump, June 16: "What's happening is that astatine an due clip — there's nary unreserved astatine all. We person cameras from abstraction connected it. We cognize everybody that goes there, which is, like, nobody. The B2 bombers deed it. The full upland collapsed wrong it. It's a precise pugnacious excavation. Nobody other tin bash it, but us, and astir apt China. They person the equipment, we person the equipment. We're successful nary rush, but we get it. And erstwhile we get it, we'll destruct it."

Context: In the years starring up to the war, Iran amassed a stockpile of 60% enriched uranium, which is conscionable a abbreviated measurement distant from weapons-grade material. Much of that worldly was held successful a fistful of subterranean facilities that were bombed by the U.S. past year, making it hard to access. 

During this year's war, the Trump medication strategized connected ways to retrieve the uranium, which the president calls "nuclear dust." An cognition to dig done the rubble and instrumentality the material would person been among the astir challenging and risky peculiar operations missions successful U.S. history, experts say.

In the memorandum of understanding, the U.S. and Iran "agreed to resoluteness the disposition of stockpiled enriched material" successful their talks implicit the adjacent 60 days. The "minimum methodology" is "down-blending" the uranium to a little level of purity onsite, nether the International Atomic Energy Agency's supervision.

But Mr. Trump suggested this week taking the worldly is not an urgent task, expressing uncertainty that Iran tin retrieve it. He said Wednesday "we'd similar to get it psychologically, but nobody's touching it."

Uranium enrichment

Trump, Feb. 27: "They privation to enrich a small bit. You don't person to enrich erstwhile you person that overmuch oil. … I say, nary enrichment. Not 20%, 30%. They ever privation 20%, 30%. … They privation it for civil. I deliberation it's uncivil."

Trump, June 14: The last woody indispensable permanently guarantee that Iran "can lone enrich for nonmilitary purposes" and "can ne'er spell beyond a definite amount," the president said in an interrogation with The New York Times successful which helium said helium wants a suspension connected uranium enrichment for 15 oregon 20 years.

Trump, June 17: "I've said to them always: 'You person astir apt the third-largest lipid reserves successful the world. What the hellhole bash you request atomic for?' … It is simply a small hard, though, erstwhile you accidental that idiosyncratic wants it, different radical person it, different adjoining states person it, and you're not letting them person it for purposes of energy and things similar that. It's ever a small tough. You person to usage a small communal sense."

Vice President JD Vance, June 18: "The Obama atomic woody allowed enrichment. Ours volition not."

Context: Iran has agelong refused to afloat springiness up its uranium enrichment program. Iranian officials importune the programme is intended for peaceful purposes, and arsenic precocious arsenic past year, U.S. quality agencies recovered Iran was not actively gathering a atomic weapon, though Iran has enriched uranium successful caller years to levels good beyond what's indispensable for astir non-military purposes.

The 2015 atomic woody inked by the Obama medication allowed Iran to support enriching uranium to 3.67%, importantly beneath the 90% utilized for bombs, with limits connected the size of Iran's stockpile and the fig and types of centrifuges Iran could operate. That operation drew disapproval astatine the time, and Mr. Trump withdrew the U.S. from the woody during his archetypal word successful office.

Prior to the outbreak of war, Mr. Trump said helium wanted Iran to hold to "no enrichment."

The U.S.-Iran memorandum of knowing leaves specifics connected uranium enrichment for later, saying lone that the 2 countries "agreed to sermon the contented of enrichment and different mutually agreed matters related to the Islamic Republic of Iran's atomic needs." It's unclear what a last woody could look like. Mr. Trump suggested this week it could beryllium "hard" to get Iran to afloat springiness up its atomic program, but Vance suggested the president's reddish enactment of nary enrichment is inactive successful place.

Regime change

Trump, addressing the Iranian radical successful a video connected Truth Social connected Feb. 28: "Take implicit your government. It volition beryllium yours to take. This volition be, probably, your lone accidental for generations."

Trump, March 29: "We've had authorities change, if you look already, due to the fact that the 1 authorities was decimated, destroyed, they're each dead. The adjacent authorities is mostly dead, and the 3rd regime, we're dealing with antithetic radical than anybody's dealt with before. It's a full antithetic radical of people. So I would see that authorities change."

Trump, June 16: "You speech astir authorities change. I ne'er cared astir authorities change."

Context: In the war's opening hours, Mr. Trump explicitly framed it arsenic an accidental for the Iranian radical to overthrow the Islamic Republic, which has governed Iran since 1979. After Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed successful strikes, Mr. Trump said helium wanted a relation successful picking Iran's adjacent leader, and was "disappointed" by the determination to elevate Khamenei's lad to the station of ultimate leader.

More recently, arsenic the Iranian authorities has remained successful place, Mr. Trump offered a somewhat antithetic view, arguing the sidesplitting of anterior Iranian leaders was efficaciously a signifier of "regime change."

Frozen assets and sanctions relief

Trump, May 27: "No, we're not talking astir immoderate easing of sanctions oregon giving money. No sanctions, nary money, nary nothing."

Trump, June 17: "It's not our money, it's their money. And we froze it astatine a definite constituent successful time, I conjecture we're going to person to springiness it back."

Context: A cardinal contented for Iran is the removal — oregon suspension — of aggravated U.S. sanctions that person hobbled Iran's system and frozen its assets, galore of which day backmost to the "maximum pressure" run successful Mr. Trump's archetypal word oregon adjacent earlier. The Obama-era atomic woody lifted sanctions successful speech for limits connected Iran's atomic program, an statement Mr. Trump argued successful 2018 gave Iran "many billions of dollars."

This week's memorandum of knowing says the U.S. volition assistance "all types of sanctions" against Iran connected an "agreed-upon docket arsenic portion of the last deal." The Trump medication has said nary sanctions volition beryllium removed oregon assets unfrozen unless Iran demonstrates compliance.