Trump says US wants "meaningful deal" with Iran as tensions escalate

Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said, "We have the strongest military in the world. And I gave them (Iran) a break at the request of Pakistan... We stopped them from going to war with India. You would have had a nuclear war if it weren't for me. But they became friendly to me. They're close to Iran, and they work, and they still are working on trying to get them to do what's right. But we want a deal that's meaningful. We want a deal that works."

Trump further issued a strong warning over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, claiming that a nuclear-armed Iran would lead to the destruction of Israel and destabilise the Middle East.

He also asserted that the United States had "hit them hard" and could strike again as negotiations remain uncertain.

Trump said, "If they (Iran) had a nuclear weapon, there'd be no Israel, there'd be no Middle East, and they would have absolutely shot at us. We'll see what happens. But we hit them hard yesterday. We're going to hit them again hard today. We'll see what happens with the deal."

"We were really close to a deal, but they keep tapping us along. They keep playing us for suckers because you know what? They dealt with some very stupid presidents... I'm embarrassed to say it. Some very stupid people were sitting here," he further said.

He also said that the United States would resume attacks on Iran.

Trump said, "We're going to be attacking them, attacking them very hard."

He also suggested that Iran's downing of a US Apache helicopter provided grounds for renewed military action.

"Based on the helicopter, I guess we have the right to do that," he told reporters.

Trump said the US had already launched strikes and would continue military operations against Iran.

"We hit them hard yesterday. We're going to hit them again hard today, in case you miss it, in case you don't turn on your television set, and we'll see what happens with the deal," he said. (ANI)