Trump says any Iran deal needs guarantee against nuclear weapon as he predicts war could end soon

President Donald Trump said Friday that any agreement with Iran would need to guarantee that Tehran never develops a nuclear weapon, while predicting that the war could end soon.

“We need a guarantee they will never develop a nuclear weapon,” Trump said in an interview with Kansas City radio station KCMO.

Trump also repeated his argument that the United States did not initiate the broader confrontation with Iran, saying Tehran had been at war with Washington since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

His latest remarks come as Qatar resumes mediation between Washington and Tehran and U.S. officials weigh both diplomatic options and preparations for possible renewed military strikes.

Trump has repeatedly said Iran’s leadership losses have complicated diplomacy. At an Oct. 14 rally in Bullhead City, Arizona, he said so many senior Iranian officials had been killed that he no longer knew “who the hell to deal with.”

He has also repeatedly argued that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon changed Washington’s leverage over Tehran. In previous remarks, Trump said that if Iran possessed such a weapon, he would have to address its supreme leader as “sir.”

Trump’s comments about Alaska in the material circulated alongside the Iran remarks came from a separate election dispute. He has criticized the state’s Senate ballot, arguing that many voters may not understand the term “incumbent” amid a contest involving two candidates named Dan Sullivan.