WASHINGTON, US President Donald Trump said Iran was “eager for a deal” to end the now-suspended war and all but ruled out resuming air strikes.
Trump’s comments during an interaction with the media in the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon came as Iran threatened to launch new strikes if the United States resumed the war. The war has been on hold since the warring sides agreed to a ceasefire on April 8.
Asked if he was “uneasy about breaking the ceasefire,” Trump said: “I don’t know if we need it.”
The U.S. president claimed that the military action had significantly weakened Iran’s capabilities.
“Their navy is gone. Their air force is gone… Their drone factories are down about 82 percent. Their missile production has also been hit. Their missile factories are down almost 90 percent,” he said.
“We destroyed their nuclear capabilities,” Trump said, adding that Iran’s economy was collapsing due to the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
“They don’t get any money from the oil. Hopefully this problem will be solved soon,” he added.
“Iran is eager to make a deal,” Trump claimed, adding that only a minority group knew how the negotiations were progressing.
“No one knows what the talks were about except myself and a few others,” he said.
The US president also used the opportunity to reiterate his claim that he has stopped eight wars, including last year’s war between India and Pakistan, and threatened to impose tariffs on both countries.
“But I solved eight wars. In every one of them, the people, the prime minister or the president wrote to thank me,” Trump said.
“As far as India is concerned, the biggest one is Pakistan, India. The Prime Minister of Pakistan said I saved 30 to 50 million lives. But it could be more than that,” the US president said.
Trump said the two nuclear powers were at war and 11 planes had been shot down.
“They were in the first week of a very bad war. I solved the problem. You know how I solved the problem? By using tariffs. I said, ‘If you keep fighting, I’m going to charge you tariffs,'” the U.S. president said.
Since Trump announced on social media on May 10 last year that the two neighbors had agreed to a “comprehensive and immediate” ceasefire after Washington-mediated negotiations, Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for stopping the conflict between India and Pakistan.
India has consistently denied any third-party interference
This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.
