US will soon take full ‘control’ of strategic straits, Trump claims
President defends military action against Iran and says preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons justifies higher fuel and energy costs for Americans
US President Donald Trump has claimed that Washington is close to taking full control of strategic waterways linked to Iran, while reiterating that Tehran will not be permitted to develop a nuclear weapon.
“We’re essentially controlling, and soon controlling, the straits,” Trump said in an interview broadcast on 77 WABC Radio. He did not identify the waterways to which he was referring in the portion of the interview released on Wednesday.
Speaking to his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, Trump defended US military operations against Iran and acknowledged that the conflict could lead to higher petrol and energy prices for American consumers.
He argued that the additional costs were justified by the need to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
“They’ll be a little higher for your energy cost, and they’ll be a little bit higher for gasoline,” Trump said. “But we have to make a journey to the West Asia because we can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump claimed that Iran’s military capabilities had been severely diminished, including its navy, air force and ability to manufacture missiles and drones. He also cited inflation, the weakening Iranian currency and alleged delays in military salaries as evidence of mounting pressure on Tehran.
The president suggested that the loss of senior Iranian leaders had complicated prospects for negotiations. “It’s not easy to make a deal. Nobody knows who’s leading,” he said.
Trump also defended deploying B-2 bombers against Iranian nuclear facilities, claiming that every bomb had struck its intended target. He asserted, without presenting evidence in the interview, that Iran had been two weeks away from developing a nuclear weapon when the strikes were carried out.
“We had no choice, and I would’ve done it again a hundred times,” he said.
Trump contended that a nuclear-armed Iran would have posed an existential threat to Israel and endangered several other West Asian countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain.
“There would be no Israel if there was no Donald Trump,” he claimed, adding that the wider Middle East could have faced devastation without US intervention.
The president also addressed Venezuela, immigration, tariffs and the American economy during the interview. He claimed his tariff policies were encouraging automobile, semiconductor, pharmaceutical and medical equipment manufacturers to relocate production to the US, describing the resulting investment as a “renaissance”.
Cohen served for years as Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer before their relationship ended in a bitter public dispute. He later testified against Trump and became one of his most outspoken critics.
With IANS inputs