(Washington = Yonhap News) Correspondent Lee Yu-mi = U.S. President Donald Trump announced on the 7th (local time) that he would exclude Kurdish intervention in the Iran war.
This is a 180-degree change from the previous media interview in which he expressed "all for it" over the possibility of Kurdish attacks on Iran.
We don't want the Kurds to intervene, President Trump told reporters inside Air Force One (aircraft) traveling to Florida after attending a ceremony to return the remains of U.S. soldiers at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. "The war is complicated enough even if the Kurds don't intervene."
"We are very friendly with the Kurds, but we don't want to make the war more complicated than it is now," he said. "They are willing to intervene, but I have told them not to intervene."
President Trump's change of position regarding Kurdish intervention in the Iranian war is interpreted as his decision not to unnecessarily expand the front line amid concerns that Kurdish intervention could spread clashes with Iran into regional conflicts.
Kurds, with a population of 30 to 40 million, are the world's largest stateless people living in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria, and have long aimed to secure their own state or self-governing territory.
When asked if Iran's map would remain the same even after the war against Iran ended, Trump replied, "I can't say. Probably not," hinting at a possible change in Iran's map in the future.
"It's a surrender," Trump said of Iranian President Masud Pejeshikyan's apology to Gulf countries affected by his attacks and his declaration of an end to the attacks. "It's really a surrender to those countries and to us."
We are not in a looking to settle situation with Iran, he said. "They want an agreement, but we are not."
Regarding Iran's next leadership, he repeatedly said, "We need to select a president who will not lead Iran to war."
President Trump blamed Iran for 175 deaths at a girls' elementary school in Iran after the U.S.-Israel airstrike, saying, "From what I've seen, it was done by Iran."
Asked if he sees Russia as supporting Iran, Trump said, "I haven't seen any such signs," adding, "If Russia is doing so, it's not doing it properly. Because Iran is not doing very well."
President Trump attended a ceremony at Delaware Air Force Base to return the remains of six U.S. soldiers killed in a retaliatory attack by Iran.
The family of six dead soldiers, including Major Jeffrey O'Brien, Captain Cody Cork, Lieutenant Robert Mazan, Sergeant Nicole Amor, Sergeant Noah Tietjens and Sergeant Declan Cody, were present.
Trump's spouse Melania and Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, White House Chief of Staff Suzy Wiles, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Cain and Middle East Special Envoy Stephen Witcove also attended.
After the return ceremony, President Trump expressed his condolences to reporters at Air Force One, saying, "This is always very sad."
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Lee Yu-mi ([email protected] )
Trump has stepped back regarding the Kurds’ participation in the war.
It’s the same Trump we’ve always seen.
He keeps an eye on the markets, but still does whatever he wants.
There’s never a follow-up plan.
He truly is a U.S. president who gives us a hard time.
