US President Donald Trump said that he is comfortable with his decision to call off US military strikes, adding that he is "not a warmonger." He also said he could imagine a future where the US is Iran's "best friend."
Last week, Trump authorised a military strike on Iran in response to the downing of an unmanned US drone. He then abruptly aborted the mission on Friday NZT, citing a potentially high casualty count.
Washington has insisted the drone was flying over international waters, but Iran has disputed that account, saying the RQ-4A Global Hawk was targeted after penetrating Iranian airspace.
Shortly before Trump spoke to reporters today, Iran's foreign minister posted new maps on Twitter he said offered further details on "the path, location and point of impact" of the US Navy surveillance drone shot down by Iran.
"There can be no doubt about where the vessel was when it was brought down," Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on Twitter alongside images he said listed the coordinates of the drone as it flew over the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump also thanked Iran for the "wise" decision not to shoot down an American military plane with a crew of 38 aboard. Trump said Iran had a manned plane "in their sights" but instead hit the remotely-piloted surveillance plane, "and that's something we really appreciate."
Conservative critics excoriated the Obama Administration when then-Secretary of State John Kerry publicly thanked Iran for releasing a group of American sailors who had apparently strayed into Iranian waters in 2016.
The President spoke as he left the White House for a weekend getaway at Camp David, where he said he will hold meetings on Iran. He suggested that some advisers would join by video or telephone conference. National security adviser John Bolton is overseas.
Trump said additional US sanctions will soon be applied to Iran, but did not specify the type. His Administration has already applied stringent economic sanctions because of the country's alleged support for terrorism, and Bolton and others have made no secret that a goal is to cripple Tehran's oil-dependent economy.
Bolton, whom Trump called a "hawk" today, had called for regime change in Iran before joining the Administration. Trump rejects that path, but said that he likes hearing a range of views.
"Ultimately I make the decision. The only one that matters is me. I listen to everybody. I want people on both sides," he said.
“We showed that we are no puff pastry.” Great details in NYT story about 30 members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards celebrating shooting down of US drone. They sat on a villa floor eating saffron chicken & rice with barberries. By @farnazfassihi @ddknyt. https://t.co/BCNLKksVxa
— Edward Wong (@ewong) June 22, 2019
The President's unusually friendly tone toward the chief US adversary in the Middle East included an open invitation to Iranian leadership to "start all over" with negotiations on its nuclear programme following his decision to withdraw from the 2015 multinational pact negotiated under Barack Obama.
"Iran wants to become a wealthy nation again. Let's make Iran great again. Does that make sense? Make Iran great again, okay with me," Trump said. "But they're never gonna do it if they think in five or six years, they're gonna have a nuclear weapon."
He continued: "We are not going to have Iran have a nuclear weapon. And when they agree to that, they are going to have a wealthy country, and they are going to be so happy, and I'm going to be their best friend. I hope that happens, but it may not."
Trump said the risk of casualties was the main reason not to carry out the airstrikes. The Iranian calculation to avoid targeting the manned US plane appears to have been a major factor in his decision.
"I'm getting a lot of praise for what I did," he said. "My expression is, We have plenty of time."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Iran could race for a nuclear weapon in a matter of months, although that possibility seems remote even after announcement last week that Iran would resume some uranium enrichment it had suspended under the 2015 agreement.
I am glad Trump has no follow through in his threats to attack North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, carry out ICE raids, and lament no follow through to release taxes, replace health care or produce a ME peace plan. But has anyone else noticed a pattern? https://t.co/Rwe0beAGHo
— Jon "Wear a Mask "Wolfsthal (@JBWolfsthal) June 22, 2019
Both Trump and Netanyahu call that agreement a mistake and say Obama gave Iran a sweetheart deal. Trump repeated that criticism today, but also warmed to the idea that he might make a new deal and be called a peacemaker in the process.
"We'll start all over and we could have a deal very quickly if they want to do it," Trump said. "It's up to them."
"Everyone was saying I'm a warmonger and now they're saying I'm a dove, and I say I'm neither. I didn't like the idea of them unknowingly shooting down an unmanned drone and we killing 150 people," Trump said.
Tensions have spiked in the Gulf region in recent weeks following a string of assaults on commercial vessels there.
The Trump Administration has blamed Iran for the attacks, which damaged six ships in the waters off the Emirati port of Fujairah. Iran has denied involvement.
Buttigieg: “I guess I’m glad he changed his mind, but what does this mean? It means we have a president who is easy to manipulate, who has trouble making decisions, who does not have a Def sec and is taking advice from people who made some of the worst decisions of my lifetime.” pic.twitter.com/r0RVQTvaIZ
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) June 22, 2019
In remarks today, the aerospace commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that the violation of Iran's airspace could have been "a mistake by an American general."
His comments followed Trump's assertion that the drone may have been shot down "unintentionally" by Iran.
Iran said that it summoned the charge d'affaires of the United Arab Emirates over "the violation of the Iranian airspace by an American spy drone that had taken off from the Arab state," the Tasnim news agency reported.
US allies in the Gulf have refrained from directly blaming Iran for the recent attacks on commercial tankers.
The factory had produced 6616 tons of toxic gases by the war's end.