The United States' war with Iran will "be wrapped up soon" as the regime has been weakened, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, even as the conflict across the Persian Gulf intensified in its third week. "It'll (The War) be wrapped up soon. We're going to have a much safer world," the president told reporters in the White House.
Calling it an "obligation" to stop Tehran from building a nuclear weapon, which the Islamic Republic denies, Trump said stock markets would have crashed had the Iranians attacked with a nuclear device.
"Iran is a shell of itself, it's no longer a bully...it's the bully that got beat up. We beat the crap out of them—and and they deserve that," he added.
Gulf Crisis Worsens
Iran stepped up attacks on energy infrastructure around the Persian Gulf and set a massive gas field ablaze, adding more pressure to an increasingly fraught global fuel supply situation.
Operations were suspended at the Shah natural gas field in the United Arab Emirates while officials assessed damage from a fire touched off by a drone attack on Monday, Bloomberg News reported. An Iraqi oil field and key Emirati port were also targeted by Iranian drones and missiles as the war enters its third week.
Trump has warned that NATO could face a “very bad” future if allies fail to assist the US in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil chokepoint disrupted amid the ongoing conflict with Iran. In an interview to the UK daily Financial Times, Trump said that countries that benefit from the waterway should contribute to efforts to keep it open.
“It's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there,” Trump said, noting that Europe and China depend far more on Gulf oil than the US. “If there's no response or if it's a negative response I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO,” he added.
Trump said he wanted allies to provide practical military assistance, including minesweepers and forces capable of countering threats from drones and naval mines along the Iranian coast.
ALSO READ: Trump Leaves Allies And Foes Guessing On Endgame For Iran
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