EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France – President Trump formally rejected the idea of regime change in Iran Tuesday, saying he “never cared” about it — despite calling early in the war for the Iranian people to rise up against their clerical rulers.
“You talk about regime change. I never cared about regime change. It [was] never a part,” Trump said during a meeting with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the G7.
In February, Trump said the overthrow of Iran’s hardline theocratic government would be “the best thing that could happen” to the Middle Eastern nation and he later called on the country’s people to finish the job started by US and Israeli airstrikes, telling them “the hour of your freedom is at hand.”
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the first hour of the war Feb. 28, with his son Mojtaba taking over the reins.
“I guess you have regime change,” Trump told Al Thani Tuesday, “because you know better than anybody, the first group, they’re all dead. The second group, they’re dead. A part of the third group is gone.”
“We’re dealing with people that I think are very rational people,” he went on. “They were nice to deal with. They were strong people, smart people. I think actually they’re smarter than the first and second group, but they’re not radicalized and they’re, you know, looking to help their country.”
As a result, Trump said, the relationship between Washington and Tehran “is now normalized.”
The president then predicted that a second round of technical talks meant to take place over a 60-day window “is going to go quickly.”
“Iran wants to get it done. They want to get back to business,” Trump said.
The president’s defense of Iran’s leaders comes as some Republicans are questioning if they can be trusted, particularly with any funds that given to them.
Trump has spent much of the G7 crowing about his peace deal, repeatedly emphasizing the main point of the memorandum of understanding is that Iran will “never have a nuclear weapon,”
G7 leaders, like those on Capitol Hill and in Israel, haven’t seen the text of the deal despite a standing offer from France and the UK to lead an operation to remove mines from the critical Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said the text of the deal will come out “in a couple of days” and he would hold a press conference and “read it word by word.”
