US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would not use a nuclear weapon in the war against Iran. “Why would I use a nuclear weapon? We’ve totally, in a very conventional way, decimated them without it,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked whether he would use such a weapon. “No, I wouldn’t use it. A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody,” he added. Asked how long he was willing to wait for a long-term peace deal with Iran, Trump said, “Don’t rush me.”
He said Iran might have loaded up their weaponry “a little bit” during the two-week ceasefire, but added that the U.S. military could knock that out in about one day.
“Their navy is gone. Their air force is gone, their anti-aircraft is gone …maybe they loaded up a little bit during the two-week hiatus, but we’ll knock that out about one day, if they did,” Trump added.
“I want to make the best deal. I could make a deal right now … but I don’t want to do that. I want to have it everlasting,” Trump said.
– Iran flaunted its tightened grip over the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday with a video of commandos in a speedboat storming a huge cargo ship, after the collapse of peace talks that Washington had hoped would open one of the world’s most important shipping corridors.
U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed the threat posed by Iran’s “little wise-guy ships” and told reporters that he believed Tehran wanted to make a deal but that its leadership was in turmoil. Trump added that he was in no hurry for a deal, but if Iran did not want one, “I’ll finish it up militarily.”
Iranian state television broadcast video overnight of masked troops pulling up in a grey speedboat alongside the MSC Francesca, climbing a rope ladder to a door in the hull and jumping through, brandishing rifles.
The video, presented with an action-movie-style soundtrack and no commentary, included views of another ship, the Epaminondas. Iran said it had captured both on Wednesday, accusing them of trying to cross the strait without permits.
The Iranian boat seizure was a reminder that the United States, despite its more powerful military, struggles to keep control of the Strait of Hormuz. Trump and his military officials have said Iran’s navy is “at the bottom of the sea,” but Tehran has shown it can still cause major problems for oil markets. Before the war, one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas was shipped through the strait.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
