President Trump continues to walk a line between diplomatic and military solutions for Iran, reiterating on Monday evening that he preferred to strike a deal to curtail its nuclear program.
At the same time he warned if that doesn't happen, it will be a "very bad day" for the country.
"Everything that has been written about a potential War with Iran has been written incorrectly, and purposefully so," the president wrote on social media. "I am the one that makes the decision, I would rather have a Deal than not but, if we don’t make a Deal, it will be a very bad day for that Country and, very sadly, its people, because they are great and wonderful, and something like this should never have happened to them."
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Americans and Iranians are set to hold another round of talks in Geneva on Thursday, according to officials. But in the meantime, U.S. force buildup and precautionary measures near Iran continue.
Early on Monday the State Department ordered nonessential U.S. diplomats out of Lebanon. Similar orders came last summer right before President Trump ordered strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.
White House special diplomatic envoy Steve Witkoff spoke to Fox News over the weekend, suggesting that Iran was a week away from what he called "industrial-grade bomb-making material."
And for weeks, U.S. military assets, including dozens of cargo and tanker flights and at least two aircraft carrier strike groups, have continued to congregate in the Middle East region.
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Both the U.S. and Iran indicated war would be a possibility if nuclear talks don't reach a satisfactory stage.
“We are prepared for diplomacy, and we are prepared for negotiation as much as we are prepared for war,” Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said last week.
