US President warns Iran must never obtain nuclear weapons, says any conflict could spread beyond the Middle East….reports Asian Lite News
Donald Trump issued a strong warning to Iran on Thursday, declaring that the United States would not allow Tehran to acquire nuclear weapons and cautioning that failure to stop its ambitions could spark a wider international conflict.
Speaking to reporters, Trump described preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power as the top foreign policy priority of his administration.
“We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “You will have a nuclear war in the Middle East, and that war will come here, that war will go to Europe.”
Trump said negotiations with Iran were still underway but stressed that the outcome would ultimately be decisive.
“Right now we’re negotiating, and we’ll see. But either we’re going to get it one way or the other,” he said. “They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.”
The US President also commented on reports that Iran was discussing plans with Oman to formalise toll charges for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important oil shipping routes.
Trump said Washington wanted the passage to remain open for unrestricted international navigation.
“We want it open, we want it free. We don’t want tolls,” he said, calling the Strait “an international waterway”.
Trump further claimed the US military had tightened control over maritime traffic connected to Iran through naval operations in the region.
“There hasn’t been a ship that’s been able to get through without our approval,” he said. “The Navy has done an amazing job.”
The President also asserted that US military action had significantly weakened Iran’s military capabilities.
“We wiped out their navy. We wiped out their air,” Trump claimed. “I would say we knocked out 85 per cent of their missile capacity.”
Trump added that the United States had rapidly strengthened both its drone production and anti drone systems during the conflict.
“We have unbelievable drone technology, both for making them and also for knocking them down,” he said.
Asked whether Iran would be permitted to retain highly enriched uranium under any future agreement, Trump rejected the idea outright.
“No, no, we get the highly enriched. We will get it,” he said.
Trump added that the uranium stockpile would likely be destroyed after being secured by the United States.
“We don’t need it. We don’t want it. We’ll probably destroy it after we get it,” he said.
The President repeatedly emphasised that stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons outweighed domestic political and economic concerns.
“I can think of nothing more important than the fact that we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.
