According to Reuters, Donald Trump made the remarks during an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation” program on Saunday.

“One of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem,” he said.

Meanwhile, Trump lamented ‘endless wars’ in Syria and Afghanistan and made clear he wants to reduce the costly US military presence in those countries despite warnings against such moves from his military advisers and spy chiefs.

The United States could rely heavily on intelligence work in Afghanistan, he said, and respond to developments in Syria from US bases in neighboring Iraq.

The US president also claimed that his country has spent a ‘fortune’ on the Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq, which he visited in December, and that the United States should hold on to it.

Reuters added that when asked if he wanted to be able to strike against Iran, Trump said “no, because I want to be able to watch Iran. All I want to do is be able to watch.”

With regard to Syria, he, however, defended his decision in December to withdraw troops there but refused to provide a timetable for the pullout.

“The United States is continuously and persistently on the wrong side,” Mohammad Javad Zarif said earlier today in interview with CBS TV network in Tehran.

When Zarif was asked about the US-Saudi alliance following the brutal murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, he said “the choices that have been made in this region have been wrong and this is nothing new about them.”

He continued to elaborate more on the wrong choices made by the United States in the region, saying “choices about supporting Saddam Hussain, choices about supporting Al-Qaeda, choices about supporting the Taliban, and ISIL.”

The Iranian foreign minister rejected the idea of ‘Iran could be better ally for the United States than Saudi Arabia’, saying “no, I am not saying that. I am saying that the United States choices in the Middle East are wrong and these wrong choices lead to disaster in our region. We knew that the invasion of Iraq was a wrong choice although Saddam Hussain was our enemy, we knew that the attack against Afghanistan was a wrong choice although the Taliban were our enemy. We know that the attack and bombardment of Yemen are wrong choices but the United States is continuously and persistently on the wrong side. Be it in Yemen, be it imprisoning a prime minister of another country, be it the recent incident a very tragic incident in Istanbul.”

I think the blanket support that the United States has provided to Saudi Arabia and to Israel has enabled them to carry out atrocities that would not have happened had there not existed this blanket support, the blind support.”