President Donald Trump said Wednesday that instead of blowing Iran "into smithereens," he "would much prefer" to negotiate a "Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement," which he says would let the Islamic republic "peacefully grow and prosper."

"I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. "Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens, ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED.

"I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper," the president continued. "We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed. God Bless the Middle East!"

Recent U.S. intelligence suggests that Iran may be accelerating its attempts to develop a nuclear weapon due to the recent weakening of its power in the Middle East. The intelligence was reportedly gathered in the final months of the Biden administration and indicates that Tehran is looking for a shortcut that would allow it to create a bomb with its uranium supply in months instead of years.

Israel has drastically reduced Iran's power in the region with its strikes on proxy groups Hamas and Hezbollah, and Tehran was further weakened by the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in July.

Additionally, Iran's missile strikes against Israel last year failed to cause much damage and the Islamic republic's leadership is seeking new ways to deter a strike by the United States or Israel.

Meanwhile, Trump has given instructions to his advisers to "obliterate" Iran if the country succeeds in assassinating him during his second term.

"If they did that they would be obliterated," Trump told reporters while signing an executive order to impose maximum pressure on Tehran. "I've left instructions if they do it, they get obliterated; there won't be anything left."

In 2020, Trump ordered the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the leader of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, and federal authorities have been monitoring Iranian threats against the president and other officials from his first administration for years.

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