United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned Iran that it would face severe military action if it backed out of ongoing negotiations, asserting that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen “very
soon” and claiming Tehran had sought talks just before what he described as the biggest planned US strike since World War II.
Speaking to Fox News, Trump said the negotiations were progressing well but accused Iranian officials of publicly denying the discussions.
“We’re having very good discussions. They don’t like to admit that. It’s a little bit disconcerting. You tell people we’re having wonderful discussions and then some guy comes out of Iran and says we have not met,” he said.
“The Strait is going to be open very soon — or they’re gonna hit very hard, and then the Strait is going to be open,” Trump added.
Trump also dismissed suggestions that the talks were not focused on Iran’s nuclear programme.
“They’ll say we didn’t talk about nuclear. Well, what do we talk about? We’re sitting there twiddling our thumbs? But the only thing that matters is action,” he said.
Warning Tehran against abandoning the negotiations, Trump reiterated that the United States would not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.
“If they back out again, they’re going to get hit really hard. They know that; they understand that. I have no choice. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. It’s very simple,” he said.
Iran Pleaded For Talks: Trump
Trump went on to claim that Iran had reached out to Washington at the last minute to avert a massive military operation.
“We were going for a tremendous attack, the biggest since World War Two, and they called me and said very politely, please can we talk. I said yes, we can talk. Let’s get it done. This should have been done by other presidents for 50 years,” he said.
