U.S. President Donald Trump stated that he has not completely abandoned negotiations, saying, "It is still possible to reach an agreement with Iran."
U.S. President Donald Trump answered questions from the press during a signing ceremony held in the Oval Office. Speaking about Iran, Trump said, “We have a very large amount of ammunition. We have reached levels we haven't had for years, and we are hitting them very hard, and this will continue.”
Trump stated that they have re-implemented the naval blockade against Iran, saying, “We are reactivating the blockade. This blockade is only valid for Iran. Those doing business with Iran will not pass, everyone else will.”
Noting that he has not completely given up on negotiations, Trump said, “I think an agreement is still possible. We have seriously damaged Iran's military capacity. We neutralized the Iranian navy within a month, their air force is now practically non-existent, we destroyed 89% of their missile production capacity and 92% of their drone production capacity.”
Regarding U.S. activities in the Gulf region, Trump stated that they are protecting allies such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait. Trump commented, “The cost of this protection should be covered by these countries. We are protecting a very wealthy region of the world. In return, I want us to be paid.”
