Trump says US actions in Iran 'a lot different' from what Russia is doing in Ukraine

U.S. military actions in Iran are very different from what Russia is doing in Ukraine, U.S. President Donald Trump said.

He made the remarks on Monday while speaking to reporters near his aircraft before departing for Memphis, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

A journalist asked how potential strikes on power plants in Iran – previously warned about by Trump – would differ from what Russia is doing in Ukraine by targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

"It's a lot different. And if you look at the nuclear weapons that they wanted to have, that they wanted to possess, a lot of things are different," Trump said.

According to him, he is "not a fan of what Russia is doing either […] but it's a lot different."

Speaking about Iran, Trump stressed that it is a country "that has been evil for 47 years."

"They've been horrible. Death all over the world, not just us. Look at the way they attacked unexpectedly all of those countries surrounding them. […] Nobody was even thinking about it," he said.

Iran wanted to take over the Middle East and "knock out Israel permanently." "And if they had a nuclear weapon, they would have been able to do that," Trump added.

Earlier, Trump also claimed that during talks lasting until late Sunday evening, Iran had allegedly agreed to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

However, the Iranian side denies that any direct negotiations with the United States took place.

Photo: The White House