Pakistan: US President Donald Trump, while returning to the United States from China, told reporters aboard Air Force One that Washington agreed to a ceasefire with Iran only as a “favour” to Pakistan. He said he was not personally in favour of the move and accepted it solely at the request of another nation.
“We really did the ceasefire at the request of other nations. I wouldn’t have really been in favour of it, but we did it as a favour to Pakistan–terrific people, the Field Marshal and the Prime Minister,” he said.
Trump also ruled out the possibility of any further bombing of Iran. The conflict escalated after a joint US-Israel strike on Iran on February 28, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory attacks on Gulf nations and effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz. Although Washington and Tehran agreed to a temporary truce last month, the two sides have yet to reach a permanent agreement to end the conflict.
Trump dismissed Iran’s peace plan after reading first sentence
The US President reaffirmed his stance that Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons and insisted that Tehran should give up the enriched uranium stockpile it has accumulated over the years.
He dismissed Iran’s latest peace proposal after reading its opening sentence, saying Tehran had failed to provide adequate assurances on ending its nuclear programme.
He said, “I looked at it, and if I don’t like the first sentence, I just throw it away.”
Trump claims Iran can’t recover nuclear fuel
Trump said Iranian negotiators claimed that the US strikes severely damaged the nuclear facilities, leaving Tehran unable to retrieve nuclear fuel.
“They came up with a terrible secret. They said that they can’t remove it because they don’t have the technology to remove it. They don’t have the time and the practice,” Trump said in response to questions on Iran.
Trump’s latest China visit
During his three-day state visit to China, President Trump met with his counterpart Xi Jinping. Trump and Jinping discussed the ongoing West Asia war along with other regional issues.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One after departing from China, President Trump claimed that the United States has control over the Strait of Hormuz and said Iran has suffered losses of nearly $500 million per day over the past two-and-a-half weeks due to the US naval blockade in the region.
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