By Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday the Tuesday deadline he has set for Iran to make a deal is final and unlikely to be extended, calling Iran’s peace proposal significant but not good enough.
Trump has warned U.S. forces will unleash broad attacks on Iranian infrastructure if his Tuesday night deadline for a deal is not met.
“They made a proposal, and it’s a significant proposal. It’s a significant step. It’s not good enough,” Trump told reporters during an Easter egg event for children on the White House South Lawn.
Critics have said Trump would be committing war crimes if the U.S. attacked civilian power plants, a point that Trump dismissed on Monday.
“I’m not worried about it. You know what’s a war crime? Having a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.
Trump said the five-week conflict could end quickly if Iran does “what they have to do.”
“They have to do certain things. They know that, they’ve been negotiating I think in good faith,” he said.
Trump, who had extended his initial deadline, gave no indication he would do so again.
“Highly unlikely. They’ve had plenty of time. In fact, they asked for seven days. I said, I’m going to give you 10. But at the end of 10, all hell’s going to break out if you don’t get there,” he said.
Trump’s senior aides have been negotiating with Iran indirectly through Pakistan, attempting to get a deal in which Iran will forswear nuclear weapons and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the oil transit waterway. Iran said it wanted a permanent end to the war, not just a temporary ceasefire.
Trump said it appeared the latest team representing the Iranian government is “not as radicalized” as others who have been killed in airstrikes.
“We think they’re actually smarter,” he said.
Trump said if it were up to him, the United States would take control of Iran’s oil, but he said the American people would probably not understand such a move.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose, Steve Holland, Susan Heavey and Bhargav AcharyaEditing by David Ljunggren and Michelle Nichols)
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