The American President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, during his meeting with the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Mark Rutte in the Turkish capital Ankara, on the sidelines of the NATO summit, that Iran will not be able to possess a nuclear weapon, stressing that “the memorandum of understanding with Iran has ended.” He also described the Iranians he deals with as “liars.”

Trump said: “Iran will not possess a nuclear weapon,” adding: “I don’t think Iran knows what it is doing.” He stressed the need to end what he described as delays in dealing with Tehran, saying: “We have wasted a lot of time with Iran and we must do our work,” emphasizing that the United States will not be lenient on this issue.

Trump speaks during his meeting with the NATO Secretary General on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara (AFP)

Trump said that the United States was able to eliminate “the first and second tier of Iranian leaders,” describing the Iranians as “insane and have killed thousands,” and vowed: “We will not let Iran possess a nuclear weapon.”

In his criticism of NATO, Trump expressed dissatisfaction with the alliance’s position on Iran, saying: “I am not satisfied with NATO’s position regarding Iran.” He indicated that the United States “does not need NATO,” but clarified that he was “testing them” on the Iranian file.

Trump also addressed the targeting of American leaders, saying: “The Iranians targeted American leaders, including myself,” adding that “the Iranians are the source of problems in the region” and that he does not want to deal with them.

In a separate context, Trump said that “Greenland is very important to America” and that it is “for the protection of the world.”

For his part, Rutte said that “5,000 planes took off from Europe to support the military operation in Iran,” affirming his support for Trump’s position regarding Iran and saying: “The American response to Iran was very strong.”