Trump cites Iraq war lessons, says he will not target Iran's military

Istanbul (ANTARA) - US President Donald Trump stated that Washington deliberately refrained from targeting Iran’s military, citing previous wars’ lessons on the dangers of destroying a nation’s institutions and armed forces.

Trump said the US would not target Iran’s military, despite striking other elements of its leadership.

“People will be surprised to hear that, as mistakes have been made in wars where you wipe out everyone, and then you have a country that cannot be rebuilt for 40 years,” he said in a Fox News interview on Saturday (30 May).

Trump referred to Iraq as an example of what he described as the US’s failed approach in previous conflicts.

“Look at what happened in Iraq; we did it very badly, it was very foolish,” he said.

He also reiterated his claim that Iran would have nuclear weapons if the US had not struck its nuclear facilities with B-2 bombers last June.

Trump added that he is “not in a rush” to reach an agreement with Tehran.

“If you rush, you won’t make a good deal,” he said.

Trump also insisted that a guarantee he always demands in any agreement is that Iran will never possess nuclear weapons.

“One guarantee I must have is that there will be no nuclear weapons – they have agreed to it,” Trump said, though Iranian officials have not confirmed the clause in the deal.

“Slowly but surely, I think we are getting what we want – and if we don’t get what we want, we will end it differently,” he added.