WASHINGTON — President Trump said Monday that the Iran war “is effectively over” militarily but that he will maintain the “status quo” of isolating Tehran economically, including with a naval blockade and a newly announced initiative to sever overland trading routes.
“Iran militarily is effectively over,” Trump told reporters at a press briefing alongside UFC CEO Dana White.
“We’re just keeping it the status quo, and we’re doing that really at the behest of countries that are their neighbors. But it’s a failing country. It’s got 301% inflation. It’s got problems like you don’t want to even think about.”
Trump said that he made the decision not to resume strikes on Iran following a conversation with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani — after announcing the new Operation Iron Gate effort to sever Iran’s land connections to other countries.
“I had a excellent conversation with Sheik Mohammed,” Trump said.
“Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and others would prefer the status quo that we remain as is. In other words, a continuation of the greatest naval blockade in the history of our country, probably in the history of the world” in addition to Operation Iron Gate.
“So you have land and sea, total lockdown. I’ve agreed that Iran cannot have, and everybody’s agreed, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and that’s a non-negotiable point. They understand that. They accept that. They don’t admit that they accept it, and they will tell you that they don’t accept it, but they accept it 100%.”
Trump said that he wasn’t withdrawing the US military presence in the region and that US forces are “fully locked and loaded” if there is “any change with respect to developments in the Middle East.”
“We don’t think there’s going to be any reason to use it. However, it’s going very well. You know, we haven’t lost a soldier in six months,” he added.
When a journalist asked Trump why he won’t simply announce an end to the conflict, the president said it was “because we have some great allies there, and we have to make sure they’re not hurt.”
“They are right now a lot safer than they were six months ago, because Iran’s been very much decapitated,” Trump went on.
“But they’re still the bully of the Middle East a little bit, and I see that we want to make sure they’re okay. We want to make sure it’s a long-term solution, not just a short term; they’ll never have a nuclear weapon. But we have to make sure that’s a long term. So it’s ending quickly. But we want to take care of people that have been very good to us over the years.”
