U.S. President Donald Trump said U.S. troops will withdraw from Iran "fairly quickly," adding that the United States could carry out "spot hits" on Iran if needed in the future.
In an interview with Reuters on the 1st (local time), Trump declined to specify the timing of the U.S. military withdrawal, saying, "I can't say exactly," but added, "We're going to leave fairly quickly."
He added, "Even if the withdrawal of U.S. troops takes place, we will return to carry out precision strikes on Iranian targets if necessary." This is interpreted to mean that if Iran resumes moves to develop nuclear weapons, the United States would concentrate strikes on those facilities.
Trump stressed that the goal of this war, "preventing the development of nuclear weapons," has been achieved. He argued that while a change of regime among Iran's leadership was not necessary, it occurred during the course of the war, and as a result it has become impossible for Iran to possess nuclear weapons.
Regarding 450 kilograms of 60% highly enriched uranium that Iran is known to possess but whose current whereabouts are unclear, he said, "That's deep underground," adding, "I don't care." This can be read as indicating that he is not considering deploying ground troops to secure Iran's enriched uranium.
Earlier, on the 29th, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Trump was reviewing a military operation to secure this highly enriched uranium.
Trump said, "Iran currently does not have the capability to develop weapons," but added, "We will always watch by satellite."
On the possibility of talks with Iran, he reiterated that "the likelihood of reaching a deal is very high because they don't want to be bombed anymore."
In a national address at 9 p.m. today (10 a.m. on the 2nd, Korea time), he is also expected to express disgust toward North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states. The reason, he noted, is that they maintained an uncooperative stance during the Iran war phase.
Trump said, "We are considering withdrawing from NATO," adding, "When we needed them, they were not friends." Earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said, "We will conduct a full review of NATO after the end of the war."