US President Donald Trump on Monday said Washington would either negotiate an agreement with Iran or “finish the job”, warning that the United States could rapidly cripple Tehran’s critical infrastructure if it chose to launch further military action.

Trump said he preferred reaching a negotiated settlement because he did not want millions of Iranians to suffer the consequences of a wider conflict. His remarks came days after he claimed the US could eliminate Iran’s surviving leadership in a single strike but was refraining from doing so to preserve diplomatic channels with Tehran.

Trump Says US Can Target Iran’s Bridges And Energy Infrastructure

Speaking about the confrontation with Iran, Trump said the United States would ultimately prevail, either through diplomacy or military action.

“We are going to win one way or the other. We’re either going to make a deal, or we’re going to finish the job,” Trump said.

The US President said his preferred outcome remained an agreement with Tehran, citing the potential impact of military action on Iran’s population.

“I’d rather make a deal because I don’t want to affect 91 million people. We can knock down their bridges in one hour. We can knock out their energy supply, all of those big plants that they’ve built, big, beautiful modern plants. They had a lot of money. They don’t have any money now. We haven’t given them any money,” Trump said.

Trump further claimed that Washington could destroy Iran’s electricity generation infrastructure within hours if it decided to do so.

“But we can knock out their electricity and power-generating plants in, I would say, a small part of an afternoon. Every plant will be gone. And they know that,” he said.

Trump Earlier Claimed US Could Eliminate Iran’s Leadership In ‘One Shot’

Trump’s latest warning came days after he said Washington had the military capability to eliminate Iran’s surviving leadership in a single strike.

The US President was referring to senior Iranian officials who had gathered during the week-long state funeral of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in joint US-Israeli air strikes on February 28.

In an interview with Axios, Trump said Washington had chosen not to target the officials because doing so would leave the United States without anyone to negotiate with.

“They are all there. One shot [and we can take them all out], but we are not going to do that because then we would have nobody to negotiate with,” Trump said.

His comments indicated that Washington intended to maintain diplomatic channels with Tehran despite repeatedly highlighting its military capabilities.

Iran Condemns Trump’s Remarks Over Khamenei Funeral

Iran strongly condemned Trump’s statements on Sunday, with the Iranian Embassy in Armenia criticising both the US President and Washington in a post on X.

The embassy said the United States would never understand the grief surrounding Khamenei’s death because it “neither has a civilisation, history, nor honour.”

“People can be killed, but ideals cannot. You killed Ayatollah Khamenei, but in reality, you broke a perfume bottle whose scent spread everywhere,” the embassy said, referring to the large crowds that participated in the former Supreme Leader’s funeral.

Khamenei’s Body Arrives In Qom For Funeral Procession

Meanwhile, Khamenei’s body arrived in the Iranian city of Qom as funeral ceremonies for the former Supreme Leader continued, according to Al Jazeera.

Iranian state television reported that the body was transported by helicopter. The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting aired footage showing a helicopter hovering above Jamkaran Mosque in Qom province and said it was carrying Khamenei’s body.

The funeral procession is scheduled to continue in Qom on Tuesday before moving to the Iraqi holy cities of Najaf and Karbala for further ceremonies, according to Al Jazeera.

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