US President Donald Trump said Saturday that Washington intentionally refrained from targeting Iran's military, arguing that past wars have shown the dangers of dismantling a country's institutions and armed forces.
Trump said the US "left the military alone" despite carrying out strikes against other elements of the Iranian leadership.
"People would be surprised to hear that, because mistakes have been made in wars where you wipe out everybody, and then you have a country that's for 40 years can never rebuild," he said in an interview with Fox News.
Trump pointed to Iraq as an example of what he described as a failed US approach in past conflicts.
"You look at what happened with Iraq; we did so badly, that was such a foolish thing," he said.
The president also repeated his claim that Iran would have obtained nuclear weapons had the US not struck Iranian nuclear facilities with B-2 bombers last June. He added that he was "in no hurry" to finalize a deal with Tehran, saying, "If you are in a hurry, you won't make a good deal."
