Hours after warning that the United States could strike Iran again, US President Donald Trump said America would “” and reiterated that Tehran would not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon.
Speaking at the White House, Trump said Iran was eager to negotiate after facing heavy pressure.
“…We’re going to end that war very quickly. They want to make a deal so badly…You are going to see oil prices plummet. They’re going to come down. There’s so much oil out there, they’re going to come plummeting down,” he said.
Trump also claimed he had been just an hour away from relaunching strikes on Iran.
“You know how it is to negotiate with a country when you’re beating them badly. They come to the table, they’re begging to make a deal,” he said.
“I hope we don’t have to go to war, but we may have to give them another big hit. I’m not sure yet,” he added.
The US President also indicated a possible timeline for renewed strikes if no agreement was reached with Tehran.
“I’m saying two or three days, maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday, maybe early next week, a limited period of time,” he said.
also expressed hope for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, following weeks of stalemate since a ceasefire agreement.
“A lot of good progress is being made, but we’re just going to keep on working at it, and eventually we’ll either hit a deal or we won’t,” Vance said, adding that there was “Option B” of resuming strikes.
“But that’s not what the president wants,” he continued. “And I don’t think it’s what the Iranians want either.”
The remarks once again raised the prospect of renewed hostilities with Iran, which has so far resisted US President Donald Trump’s demands to dismantle the remaining parts of its nuclear programme after weeks of strikes that began in late February.
However, Trump has repeatedly threatened — and later stepped back from — fresh military action since a ceasefire was agreed on 8 April.
The war has also disrupted , a vital waterway for oil and gas flows, causing global energy prices and inflation to surge. Yields on the US Treasury’s longest-dated bonds rose to the highest level in almost two decades on investor concerns about the Middle East war’s growing macroeconomic impact.
(With agency inputs)
