Iran Wants To Make A Deal But Its Leaders Afraid Of Being Killed By 'Own People': Donald Trump

 

New Delhi : US President Donald Trump has claimed that Iran "so badly" wants to make a deal, but the country's leaders are "afraid to say it" because they fear they will be "killed by their own people" or "by the US".

He also claimed that being the head of Iran was a job that 'nobody wanted'. Trump made the remarks on Wednesday evening during his address to the annual National Republican Congressional Committee fundraising dinner in Washington.

 

"We settled 8 wars. We are winning another one. Nobody has seen anything like what we are doing in the Middle East with Iran. They are negotiating, by the way. They want to make a deal so badly, but they are afraid to say it because they figure they will be killed by their own people. They are also afraid they will be killed by us. There has never been a head of a country who wanted that job less than being the head of Iran," the US President said. Page 16

also recalled the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian Major General and Commander of the Quds Force, who was killed in a targeted drone strike ordered by him on 3 January 2020 in Iraq.

 

While calling Soleimani an "evil man", Trump also lauded his leadership and said he was a "tough general".

"We did many things. Taking out Soleimani was very important. He was an evil man...We took out Soleimani, and they never had leadership that could compete with that. He was an evil guy, but he was a real leader, and he was a very tough general. Under our leadership, America is also highly respected again. Perhaps we are now respected like never before. I don't think we have ever been as respected now," he said.

Trump's remarks came hours after Washington attempted to negotiate with Tehran and sent through intermediaries a 15-point ceasefire plan. Iran dismissed the plan, issuing its own counterproposal instead, as it launched more attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries.

 

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview on state TV that his government has not engaged in talks to end the war, "and we do not plan on any negotiations.” That followed a report from Iranian state TV's English-language broadcaster quoting an anonymous official as saying Iran rejected America’s ceasefire proposal and has its own demands to end the fighting.