Ruling out the possibility of using nuclear weapons against US President Donald Trump said on Thursday (local time) that such a weapon should never be used against anybody. His clarification comes amid speculations by many that the United States is considering using nuclear weapons against the Islamic Republic as the war continues to drag on in the Middle East.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, the 79-year-old American leader also reiterated that the US has "total control" over the Strait of Hormuz from where nearly a fifth of the global crude passes through; although he said Washington has deliberately closed it to increase the pressure on Iran so that it comes to the table for talks and accepts the peace deal.
"Why would a stupid question like that be asked?... No, I wouldn't use it. A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody," the US President said, while once again stressing that the Islamic Republic cannot have a nuclear bomb.
In his remarks, Trump also repeated that the Iranian military has been completely defeated and the naval blockade against them is "100 per cent effective", while adding that their economy is "not doing well". Trump said Iran wants to make a peace deal, but they aren't sure who is leading them, as their leadership has been obliterated.
When asked how long the war would likely continue for, Trump said he took out Iran militarily in the first four weeks. If Iran fails to make a deal, Trump said he will finish it up militarily with the other 25 per cent targets. According to Trump, the US has also already 78 per cent of the targets it wanted to strike.
"I gave them a break. I want to make the best deal. I could make a deal right now. Do you know that if I left right now, we had a tremendous success. It would take them 20 years to rebuild, but I don't want to do that. I want to have it everlasting," he said.
"We will have the Strait opened up. Right now, we have it closed. We have total control of the Strait... They would have opened it up 3 days ago. They came to us, and they said, 'We will agree to open the Strait'. All my people were happy except me. I said, 'One minute, if we open the Strait, that means they are going to make $500 million a day'. I don't want them to make $500 million a day until they settle this thing," he added.
ALSO READ - Trump calls 'India a great country' after controversial social media repost; MEA responds
