President Donald Trump said on Nov. 9 that additional military action in Iran was “quite unlikely” but said the United States will be “locked and loaded” if needed.
“Iran militarily is effectively over,” Trump said on Monday. “We’re just keeping it the status quo, and we’re doing that really at the behest of countries that are their neighbors.”
“They’re talking to us, and they’re talking very politely. And we’ll see what happens. But there’s a good chance that that could get ended,” he added.
Trump’s comments came during a press conference after he met with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, at the White House on Monday. Qatar has served as an intermediary between the United States and Iran.
Trump described Iran on Monday as a “failing country” and reiterated his previous claims that Tehran is not paying their military and that both the regime’s navy and air force have been decimated. He added that their military is “essentially gone” following the conflict.
“At the conclusion of the military engagement, the American people and the people of the world will be far safer and more secure than they’ve been in many, many years because Iran was killing many people,” Trump said. “That war was started in 1979. We didn’t start the war; they did.”
In a Truth Social post on Monday afternoon, Trump said that Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries preferred that the United States continue its naval blockade against Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. He added that the countries also wanted the United States to continue the operation overseen by the task force U.S. Central Command launched on Saturday, dubbed Task Force Iron Gate, which aims to prevent Iran from transporting weapons and generating illegal revenue using ground transit routes.
“All have agreed that Iran cannot have a Nuclear Weapon — That is non-negotiable!” Trump wrote. “Should there be any change with respect to developments in the Middle East, the United States of America is ‘locked and loaded’ and ready to go. At this point, however, that seems to be quite unlikely.”
In his Truth Social post, Trump said the entire Middle East is protected against the dangers and threats posed by the Iranian regime. He added that there is “positive momentum” toward an end to the military conflict in Iran.
This is a breaking story that will be updated.
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