Speaking at a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Monday, Trump affirmed that he is not pursuing regime change in Iran and his main goal is to ensure that Tehran will not be developing what he called nuclear weapons.
That is while senior Iranian officials, including Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei have on many occasions stressed that the production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons is forbidden and the Islamic Republic considers the pursuit and possession of nuclear weapons as a grave sin.
Trump went on to say that Iran “has a chance to be a great country with the same leadership.”
“We are not looking for regime change” in Iran, Bloomberg quoted the US president as saying.
Trump also told reporters that he and the Japanese leader have talked about Iran, noting, “Nobody wants to see terrible things happen, especially me.”
“I do believe Iran would like to talk and if they’d like to talk, we’ll talk also,” Trump stated, adding that Abe has a “very good relationship with Iran.”
Japanese media reported that Prime Minister Abe is considering a visit to Iran next month. Earlier reports said that Abe’s visit would be likely in mid-June. Earlier this month, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Tokyo.