US President Donald Trump on Friday embraced potential regime change in Iran and declared that "tremendous power" will soon be in the Middle East, as the Pentagon sent a second aircraft carrier to the region.
Trump's military moves and tough talk comes even as Washington and Tehran seek to revive diplomacy over Tehran's long-running nuclear dispute with the West.
A source briefed on the matter told Reuters that US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will hold negotiations with Iran on Tuesday in Geneva, with representatives from Oman acting as mediators.
The source said Witkoff and Kushner will also meet officials from Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday in Geneva in the US drive to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.
Asked if he wanted regime change in Iran, Trump responded that it "seems like that would be the best thing that could happen." He declined to share who he wanted to take over Iran, but said "there are people."
"For 47 years, they've been talking and talking and talking," Trump said after a military event at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. "In the meantime, we've lost a lot of lives while they talk. Legs blown off, arms blown off, faces blown off. We've been going on for a long time."
Washington wants nuclear talks with Iran to also cover the country's ballistic missiles, support for armed groups around the region and the treatment of the Iranian people. Iran has said it is prepared to discuss curbs on its nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions, but has ruled out linking the issue to missiles.
Trump has threatened strikes on Iran if no agreement is reached, while Tehran has vowed to retaliate, stoking fears of a wider war as the US amasses forces in the Middle East. The US targeted Iran's nuclear facilities in strikes last year.
When asked what was left to be targeted at the nuclear sites, Trump said the "dust." He added: "If we do it, that would be the least of the mission, but we probably grab whatever is left."
The carrier Gerald R. Ford will join the carrier Abraham Lincoln, several guided-missile destroyers, fighter jets and surveillance aircraft that have been moved to the Middle East in recent weeks. The Gerald R. Ford, the United States' newest and the world's largest carrier, has been operating in the Caribbean with its escort ships and took part in operations in Venezuela earlier this year.
Asked earlier on Friday why a second aircraft carrier was headed to the Middle East, Trump said: "In case we don't make a deal, we'll need it ... if we need it, we'll have it ready."
One of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the carrier would take at least a week to reach the Middle East.
