Trump Expects Iran to Pursue Diplomatic Path to Reconciliation

US President Donald Trump reveled in the swift end to war between Iran and Israel, saying he now expected a relationship with Tehran that would preclude the rebuilding of its nuclear program despite uncertainty over damage inflicted by US strikes.

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THE HAGUE/TEL AVIV -

As exhausted and anxious Iranians and Israelis sought to resume normal life after the most intense confrontation between the two foes, Iran's President suggested the war could lead to reforms at home.

Mr. Trump, speaking in The Hague where he attended a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit on June 25, said his decision to join Israel's attacks by targeting Iranian nuclear sites with bunker-busting bombs had ended the war, calling it "a victory for everybody."

He shrugged off an initial assessment by the US Defense Intelligence Agency that Iran's path to building a nuclear weapon may have been set back only by months, saying the findings were "inconclusive" and he believed the sites had been destroyed.

"It was very severe. It was obliteration," he said.

He was confident Tehran would not try to rebuild its nuclear sites and would instead pursue a diplomatic path towards reconciliation, he said. "I'll tell you, the last thing they want to do is enrich anything right now. They want to recover."

If Iran tried to rebuild its nuclear program, "we won't let that happen. Number one, militarily we won't," he said, adding: "I think we'll end up having something of a relationship with Iran to see (to) it."

Israel's bombing campaign, launched with a surprise attack on June 13, wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military leadership, killed its leading nuclear scientists and targeted nuclear sites and missiles. Iran responded with missiles that pierced Israel's defenses in large numbers for the first time.