President Donald Trump on Wednesday declined to say whether the U.S. was planning to strike Iran or its nuclear facilities, and added the Iranians had reached out but he feels "it's very late to be talking."
Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump was asked about the U.S. potentially joining Israel in firing air strikes aimed at Iran.
"You don't know that I'm going to even do it. You don't know. I may do it. I may not do it," the president said. "I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do.
"I can tell you this, that Iran's got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate. And I say, 'Why didn't you negotiate with me before all this death and destruction?' "
Israel likely would need U.S. assistance to take out Iran's Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, an underground uranium enrichment facility.
Surrounded by workers who are erecting massive new flag poles outside the White House, Trump said Iran is paying for being longtime "bullies."
"For 40 years they've been saying death to America, death to Israel, death to anybody else that they didn't like," he said. "They were bullies. They were schoolyard bullies. And now they're not bullies anymore. But we'll see what happens.
"I wouldn't say that we won anything yet. I would say that we sure as hell made a lot of progress."
In describing Iran as totally defenseless, with no air defense whatsoever, Trump said he did not know how long the conflict would continue.
The president was asked whether it was too late for Iran to enter into negotiations for a new nuclear agreement and an end to the current conflict.
"Nothing's too late," he said, before adding, "I said it's very late. You know, I said it's very late to be talking. We may meet. It's, I don't know, there's a big difference between now and a week ago.
"They [the Iranians] even suggested they come to the White House. It's a big difference but they've suggested that they come to the White House. That's, you know, courageous ... it's like not easy for them to do."
Trump said he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, when Putin offered to mediate the Israel-Iran conflict.
"I said, 'do me a favor, mediate your own,' " said Trump, referring to the Russia-Ukraine war. "Let's mediate Russia first. OK?"
Trump spoke after Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement read by a television presenter on Wednesday that his country will not accept Trump's call for an unconditional surrender.
In his first remarks since Friday, when he delivered a speech broadcast on state media after Israel began bombarding Iran, Khamenei said peace or war could not be imposed on the Islamic Republic.
"Intelligent people who know Iran, the Iranian nation, and its history will never speak to this nation in threatening language because the Iranian nation will not surrender," he said.
Reuters contributed to this story.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.