Trump: I told Netanyahu striking Iran would be ‘very inappropriate’ when talks ‘very close’ to solution

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump confirms that he asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a call last week not to take military action against Iran that could disrupt Washington’s ongoing nuclear negotiations with the Islamic Republic.

“Well, I’d like to be honest. Yes, I did. Next question,” Trump tells reporters in the Oval Office in response to a direct question on the matter.

“I told [Netanyahu] this would be very inappropriate to do right now because we’re very close to a solution,” Trump says.

“That could change at any moment. It could change with a phone call. But right now, I think [Iran] wants to make a deal, and if we can make a deal, [that would] save a lot of lives.”

“We’re having very good discussions with [Iran], and I said [to Netanyahu], ‘I don’t think that’s appropriate right now.’ Because if we can settle it with a very strong document — with inspections and [not based on] trust,” he continues. “I want [the deal to be] very strong where we can go in with inspectors, we can take whatever we want. We can blow up whatever we want, but [with] nobody getting killed.”