(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iran has to be able to have “some” ballistic missiles when discussing future negotiations for the potential US-Iran deal.
The president told reporters that after the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding is signed, the US will work with its Gulf allies on “non-nuclear” issues, including ballistic missiles.
“I mean, they have to have some because other people have some, you gotta have some,” the president said at the G7 summit in France.
Iran’s ballistic missile program was frequently cited by senior US officials as one of the reasons why the US launched the war. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was standing alongside Trump at the G7 summit, told reporters in the first days of the bombing campaign that one purpose was to “destroy Iran’s missile capability,” something Trump also vowed to do when announcing the first wave of airstrikes.
“We’re going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally, again, obliterated,” Trump said on February 28 after the first wave of US-Israeli airstrikes.
But now the president appears to have realized the goal isn’t achievable as Iran’s missile capability withstood the heavy US-Israeli bombing campaign. According to recent media reports, US intelligence estimates say that Iran retains more than 70% of its missiles and missile launchers.
In his remarks on Wednesday, the president appeared to make fun of his aides who were still insisting that Iran must give up its ballistic missiles. “I have guys, I like some of these guys, but I don’t think they’re smart. ‘Sir, you shouldn’t let them have any missiles.’ I say, what am I gonna do? Am I gonna let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but they can’t have any? … It doesn’t work that way,” he said.
When reporters later asked about the comments, Trump doubled down. “I’m saying that if other countries have them, it’s a little bit unfair for them not to have some. If Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and they all have some, I would say in relative proportion, I think it’s okay,” he said.
The idea of Iran giving up its ballistic missile program as part of a deal with the US is a long-standing Israeli demand meant to sabotage the chances of a deal, since Tehran’s missiles and drones are its only way to strike back at the US and Israel. Any efforts to impose limits or restrictions on Iran’s missiles would almost certainly fail since they are now Iran’s primary deterrent to more US and Israeli attacks.
This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.
