US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he is not ready to make a deal with Iran to end the ongoing hostilities with the West Asian nation despite the latter’s willingness to do so “because the terms aren’t good enough yet.”
He made the remarks in an interview with NBC News. “Iran wants to make a deal, and I don’t want to make it because the terms aren’t good enough yet,” Trump told the media outlet.
He added that any terms for a ceasefire would have to be “very solid.”
Though the president refused to divulge what the terms of a potential deal to end the war would be, he did signal that a commitment from Tehran to permanently abandon any nuclear ambitions would be non-negotiable.
TRUMP RESISTING PEACE EFFORTS?
The statements came hours after news agency Reuters, while citing three different sources, reported that the Trump administration had rebuffed efforts by Middle Eastern allies to start diplomatic negotiations aimed at ending the Iran war.
Trump has, so far, put forth varying estimates about the timeline of the conflict. While he initially said the American military campaign could last for 4–5 weeks, he has since insisted that American forces are “way ahead of schedule” and that there is “practically nothing left to target” in Iran.
However, as apparent by the recent US strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island, which handles about 90 per cent of the country’s oil exports, indicates that the US president might keep pressing ahead with his assault.
‘US MAY HIT KHARG AGAIN’
Trump even told NBC News that the US might hit Kharg “a few more times just for fun” despite the island being “totally demolished” in the Saturday strike.
The war between Iran and the joint front of Israel and the US has killed more than 2,000 people so far, mostly in Iran, and created the biggest-ever oil supply disruption as maritime traffic has halted in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported.
(With inputs from agencies)
