President Trump announced “major additional Sanctions on Iran” starting Monday.
But he was quick to state, “I look forward to the day that Sanctions come off Iran, and they become a productive and prosperous nation again.
“The sooner the better!” he tweeted Saturday.
Earlier in the day, he appeared to wave an olive branch.
“This is about, Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon,” he told reporters. “They’re going to be so happy and we’re going to be their best friend. I hope that happens.”
Trump imposed punishing sanctions on Iran in May.
Meanwhile, Tehran on Saturday renewed threats against the US, saying it will not permit its borders to be violated.
“Iran will firmly confront any aggression or threat by America,” said a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Iran also levied a “strong protest” with the neighboring United Arab Emirates, over the US use of a base there to launch the unmanned drone that Iran shot down Thursday.
US officials say the drone was attacked over international waters in the Strait of Hormuz, not inside Iranian airspace.
In his Saturday remarks, Trump pointed out that the US no longer relies on Arab oil shipped through the strait.
“The biggest beneficiary of the straits is China,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “So we’re doing them a very big service by keeping the straits open.”
The reference came less than a week before his high-stakes trade meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit, suggesting Trump might raise Iran when the two leaders are face-to-face. China is Iran’s largest oil customer.
The statements came after Trump launched, then halted a military strike against Iran on Thursday.
A different sort of offensive did take place that day, when the Pentagon launch a cyber attack against Iran, according to Yahoo News. The digital response reportedly targeted an Iran-based spy group.
With Post wires
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