US President Donald Trump on Thursday addressed the ongoing tensions between Israel and Iran, stating that "it would be nice" if Israel could avoid escalating the conflict by striking Iran's military facilities.
Trump's comments came during a signing ceremony for executive orders in the Oval Office, where he responded to a reporter's question about a potential Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear sites. "It would really be nice if that could be worked out without having to go that further step," Trump said. He added, “Iran will hopefully make a deal, and if they don’t make a deal, that’s okay too.”
The remarks follow heightened tensions after Trump's decision to re-designate Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). The move, which reintroduces harsher economic penalties, has drawn sharp criticism from Tehran.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei condemned the designation as "baseless," accusing the U.S. of using it as "an excuse to apply anti-human sanctions against the Yemeni people." The decision marks a significant shift in U.S. policy, reversing the Biden administration's more lenient stance on the Houthis.
Jerusalem Post contributed to this article.
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