Iran responds to ‘lying’ Trump after he declares war is ‘nearly over’ | US | News

Ten days into what he has already called a “short-term trip,” Donald Trump appeared before cameras in Doral, Florida, on Monday and told the world the conflict would be over “very soon”; He then threatened to immediately escalate the conflict if Iran maintained control of the Strait of Hormuz.

The contradiction was at the center of the sweeping outlook, in which Trump claimed 5,000 targets had been hit since the first bombs fell on February 28, boasted that Iran’s missile stockpile had been reduced to “10 percent, maybe less,” and announced that drone factories were now being eliminated one by one. “As of today, we know all the places where they are producing drones, and they are being shot down one after another,” he said.

But the oil bottleneck remained his sharpest focus. With Brent crude reaching $119 per barrel, Trump was clear about the consequences of continuing the blockade on Iran. “I will not allow a terrorist regime to hold the world hostage and try to stop the world’s oil supply. And if Iran does anything to do that, they will be hit much harder,” he said.

He added that Washington now offers “political risk insurance” to tankers in the Gulf and, if necessary, US ships will accompany commercial ships passing through the strait.

In response, Iran issued the following statement through the state-run Fars News Agency: “Decisive Response from Revolutionary Guard Spokesperson to Trump’s Ramblings: America’s lying President, in order to escape the pressure of war and end the helplessness of American military forces in the region, falsely claimed that the power of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran has ended.”

Putin and the new leader

On Monday, we witnessed a mysterious phone conversation with Russia’s Vladimir Putin that covered both Ukraine and the Middle East. Trump told reporters at the press conference that the Russian President had expressed a desire to “help” with Iran; It was a claim to which Trump responded with characteristic candor. “And I said, ‘You can be more useful by ending the Ukraine war. This would be more beneficial.’ But we had a very nice conversation,” he said.

Asked about Mojtaba Khamenei, Trump insisted that the two men were firmly in opposing corners. Putin offered his congratulations to the new supreme leader on Monday and reiterated Moscow’s commitment to Tehran. Trump’s reaction was exactly the opposite; He said he was “disappointed” by the appointment and predicted it would bring “more of the same problem for the country”. Asked whether Israel’s assassination threat against the new leader included Washington’s thinking, Trump said it was “inappropriate” to comment.

Trump once again returned to his claim that the entire operation was necessary to prevent something much worse. He said that if there had been no joint attack to eliminate Iran’s nuclear program, the bomb would already exist and would have already been used. “They would have used this much earlier and at least Israel would have been destroyed,” he said.

‘We didn’t win enough’

Hours before the press conference, Trump had addressed a Republican meeting at the Doral golf club in a way that stripped the conflict of any seriousness, according to the BBC. “We went on a little trip because we felt like we had to do it to get rid of some people,” he told the room, before admitting the job wasn’t over.

“We have already won in many ways, but we have not won enough,” he said, vowing to advance “until the enemy is completely and decisively defeated.”

His remarks came against the background of a loyalty rally in Iran; The Express reported that conservatives turned out to show their allegiance to Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the slain Ayatollah, who was confirmed as the new Supreme Leader on Sunday as the US and Israel continued to hit nuclear facilities, civilian infrastructure, oil refineries and a desalination plant.