‘I’m not saying it’s imminent, but it seems like something that could well happen,’ the U.S. president said.

During a press conference at the White House on Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledged that Israel could strike Iran’s nuclear facilities.

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“I’m not saying it’s imminent, but it seems like something that could well happen,” he said, clarifying that Israeli officials “haven’t told me anything” about a potential attack.

However, the Trump administration has taken steps to repatriate nonessential U.S. personnel from the embassy in Baghdad and facilitate the voluntary departure of family members and noncritical staff from diplomatic missions in the region.

“There is a possibility of a massive conflict. There are many Americans in this area, and I told them they should leave, because something could happen soon. And I don’t want to be the one who didn’t warn them and suddenly missiles are hitting their buildings… I had a choice. Do I do it or not? Doing it has its downsides, but it also has advantages, like many lives could be saved if it happens — and I hope it doesn’t,” Trump said.

The U.S. presence at the embassy in Iraq has been reduced following a security assessment. In contrast, American diplomatic facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait remain fully operational.

The United States “has authorized the voluntary departure of military dependents from locations” across the region, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement Wednesday, adding that it is “monitoring the rising tension in the Middle East.”

Trump also said he would “love to avoid conflict with Iran,” but warned that Tehran “will have to make some concessions that it’s not willing to give us right now” in nuclear agreement negotiations.

“We’ve had very good talks with Iran. I can’t say whether we’ll succeed or not [in reaching a deal], but it’ll happen soon,” the U.S. president said, reaffirming his opposition to Iran becoming a nuclear power. “Let me be very clear: they cannot have a nuclear weapon,” he insisted.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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