Trump Says Options on Iran Are to Let It Fail Economically or Hit It Hard

JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump has accused Iran of being a "cunning negotiator" in an interview released on Monday night, outlining some of the options he currently has in the conflict, "live the situation as it is" and let Tehran fail economically, or hit them "very, very hard."

"I'm actually negotiating," Trump told "Real America's Voice" in a telephone interview, Al Arabiya reported from Reuters (12/8).

"They are very cunning negotiators," he said.

Since the conflict broke out in late February, President Trump has repeatedly changed his stance between issuing threats of escalation and claiming that a peace deal is in sight.

President Trump described one of the strategies he might take as follows: "Do what I'm doing now: just live the situation and see how bad their condition is."

"Economically, their condition is chaotic. They can't borrow money. We control their money - the assets they had before, which are very large in number. They have a lot of assets, and we have full control over them. I am their banker," he said, referring to Iran's frozen assets.

"The other option is to hit them very, very hard," the US President said.

Pakistan on Tuesday said the US and Iran were close to reaching a "sort of" deal, while Qatar said talks on managing the Strait of Hormuz were at an advanced stage, despite reports of new attacks on ships in the region's waters.