President Donald Trump said on Friday that he did not want to extend the expiring ceasefire in the US-Israeli war against Iran and that the US military was "ready for action" if talks did not work out, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Trump spoke shortly after the US military announced that they had boarded a huge Iranian oil tanker in international waters, the first such action against crude oil exports from Iran. That could make it difficult to resume peace talks with Iran, which has said it will not negotiate while Washington imposes a blockade on its ports.
Washington has expressed confidence that last-minute talks will take place with Iran in Pakistan, and a senior Iranian official said Tehran is considering whether to join. But with the final hours of the two-week truce ticking away, time is running out, Reuters notes.
Asked about the possibility of extending the truce, Trump told CNBC: "I don't want to do that. We don't have that much time".
"I expect to bomb because I think that's a better approach," he added. "But we are prepared to act. I mean, the military is eager to get started." "We don't want to be attacked again, but if such attacks are launched, we will definitely respond more firmly than before," Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani was quoted as saying by the IRNA news agency. Trump also told CNBC that the artificial intelligence company Anthropic was improving its image in the eyes of his administration, which could lead to its removal from the Pentagon's "blacklist." In February, Trump ordered the government to suspend its work with Anthropic. The Pentagon then declared the company a supply chain risk, dealing it a major blow after a dispute over restrictions on how the military could use its tools.
The company disputes the characterization of it as a risk and filed a lawsuit against the Defense Department in March.
Antropik CEO Dario Amodei met with White House officials last week to try to mend ties. The White House described the meeting as productive and constructive.
"They came to the White House a few days ago and we had some very good conversations with them," Trump told CNBC today. "And I think they're doing a good job. They're very smart and I think they can be a great asset. "I like smart people... I think we'll get along very well with them," he added.
Asked if a deal with the Pentagon was in the offing, Trump replied: "It's possible. We want the smartest people.".