From NBC News: President Donald Trump said Saturday that he’s not ready to make a deal to end the war with Iran despite the country’s willingness to do so “because the terms aren’t good enough yet,” but declined to say what those terms would be.
In a wide-ranging, nearly 30-minute telephone interview with NBC News, the president also said he is working with other countries on a plan to secure the Strait of Hormuz amid surges in global oil prices, and he dismissed Americans’ concerns about rising gas prices since the U.S. and Israel launched their joint military operation two weeks ago.
The president also questioned whether Iran’s new supreme leader is “even alive.”
Trump said, “Iran wants to make a deal, and I don’t want to make it because the terms aren’t good enough yet.”
Trump told NBC News that the terms will have to be “very solid,” but he declined to elaborate other than to say that a commitment to completely abandon nuclear ambitions would need to be part of it.
Trump said, “The only power they have, and it’s a power that can be closed off relatively quickly, is the power of dropping a mine or shooting a relatively short-range missile. But when we get finished with the shoreline, they’re not going to have that power either.”
He also said, “We’ve knocked out most of their missiles. We’ve knocked out most of their drones. We knocked out their manufacturing of missiles and drones, largely. Within two days, it’ll be totally decimated.”
In other comments, Trump expressed surprise at Iran’s attack on other Middle Eastern countries in response to the U.S.-Israeli operation, and said he’s asked other countries to help the U.S. secure the Strait of Hormuz, a key marine passageway for oil tankers.
Trump said he is asking “numerous countries that are affected by the thuggery of Iran” to help secure the Strait.
He said several other countries are committing to helping secure the strait.
“They’ve not only committed, but they think it’s a great idea,” he said.
On the phone call, Trump said it wasn’t certain that Iran dropped mines into the strait.
“We’re going to be sweeping the strait very strongly, and we believe we’ll be joined by other countries who are somewhat impeded, and in some cases impeded from getting the oil,” the president said.
Asked if the U.S. Navy would be escorting ships through the strait, Trump said, “I don’t want to tell you anything about that.” He admitted it was a possibility, however.
Trump also questioned whether Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is alive, after he reportedly issued a written statement vowing to keep blocking the Strait of Hormuz and attacking U.S. allies in the region.
“I don’t know if he’s even alive. So far, nobody’s been able to show him,” Trump told NBC News. “I’m hearing he’s not alive, and if he is, he should do something very smart for his country, and that’s surrender.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that Khamenei was “wounded and likely disfigured.”
Amid criticism from global leaders over the U.S. for easing sanctions on Russian oil, Trump called out Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, claiming he was more challenging to negotiate with than Russian President Putin.
Read more at MBC News
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