Video: Trump announces US withdrawal from Iran conflict in 2-3 weeks, with or without deal
United States President Donald Trump
Abdullateef Fowewe
United States President Donald Trump announced has announced that the United States will withdraw its forces from Iran within two to three weeks, regardless of whether a deal is reached, claiming the primary objective of preventing Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons has already been met.
Speaking to reporters, Trump emphasised the decision to exit, stating, “We’ll leave because there’s no reason for us to do this.”
He downplayed ongoing threats in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global oil shipments that handles about one-fifth of the world’s petroleum trade.
However, recent disruptions from the conflict have driven up fuel prices worldwide.
“Look, the problem with the Strait of Hormuz — a guy can take a mine, drop it into the water and say ‘oh it’s unsafe’. It’s not like you’re taking out an army or you’re taking out a country, you know? They can drop it, or he can take a machine gun from the shore, shoot a few bullets on a ship, or maybe an over-the-shoulder missile — small missiles.
“That’s not for us. That’ll be for France, that’ll be for whoever is using this strait,” Trump said.
The president credited U.S. actions with achieving regime change and setting back Iran’s capabilities significantly.
“We have had regime change. Now, regime change was one of the things I had as a goal. I had one goal: they would have no nuclear weapon. And that goal has been attained. It will not have nuclear weapons,” he added.
Trump indicated operations are wrapping up, with plans to “knock out every single thing they have,” potentially including bridges, but expressed openness to negotiations.
“But I think when we leave, probably that’s all cleared up. Now it’s possible that we’ll make a deal before that, because we’ll hit bridges — and we’ve hit some, well, we’ve got a couple of nice bridges in mind. But if they come to the table, that’ll be good. But it doesn’t matter whether they come or not. We’ve set them back. It will take 15, 20 years for them to rebuild what we’ve done to them,” Trump stated.
