Trump says Iran agreed to forgo nuclear weapons

Washington, June 24 (IANS) US President Donald Trump claimed that Iran has agreed never to acquire a nuclear weapon as part of what he described as a “historic peace agreement” that ended tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, while asserting that Tehran’s military capabilities had been severely weakened.

Speaking at a Mack Trucks manufacturing facility in Macungie, Pennsylvania, Trump said preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon remained the central objective of his administration’s policy towards the Islamic Republic.

“As you know, we just achieved a historic peace agreement with Iran to end the conflict in the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump told workers and supporters gathered at the plant.

The President said the agreement had already helped stabilise energy flows through one of the world’s most strategically important waterways.

“Yesterday, 19 million barrels of oil flowed out of the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said. “That’s the most oil in the history of the strait.”

Trump said the primary goal of his administration’s efforts was ensuring that Iran could not develop nuclear weapons.

“Most importantly, we are ensuring one thing very importantly, because this is why I did it. I did it for this reason, 99 per cent for this, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and they’ve agreed to that,” he said.

The President also claimed that Iran’s military infrastructure had been significantly degraded.

“We’re leaving Iran with no navy, no air force, no anti-aircraft, no missile capability, no nuclear program,” Trump said. “We’re leaving them without any nuclear capacity and they’ve agreed to that.”

Trump argued that previous American administrations had failed to address the issue.

“Remember, this wasn’t easy. We had 47 years worth of presidents and other people, other countries too. We’re not the only one that never did anything,” he said.

The President further asserted that Iran’s economy and defence sector had suffered substantial damage.

“The Iran economy has been crushed and their defence industrial base has been damaged so severely that it will take them many years to rebuild, many, many years,” Trump said.

At another point in his remarks, Trump suggested that the conflict had been necessary to prevent wider instability across the Middle East.

“We had to make this detour. We had to go to Iran and you can’t let them blow up the Middle East and then us, if that’s possible,” he said.

Referring to recent military action against Iranian nuclear facilities, Trump praised the US operation.

“The only thing they understand is what these guys in the front row understand is the hammer,” he said. “Because if you look at what we did to their nuclear capacity with those beautiful B-2 bombers, that was truly a hammer.”

Trump also indicated that Washington remained open to further engagement with Tehran.

“But they’re going to be OK, I think. They’re going to do what they have to do because we want to have it done,” he said.

The President’s remarks come amid continuing international attention on Iran’s nuclear programme and security in the Gulf region.

–IANS

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