US President Donald Trump said the US could end its military strikes on Iran within two to three weeks. Tehran, president of the usa he said, he didn’t have to make a deal as a prerequisite to ending the war.
“We’ll be leaving very soon,” President Trump Reuters quoted him as telling reporters at the White House on March 31 (local time).
Read also | Trump has publicly shamed allies in the UK and France for their lack of support in the Iran war
Trump added that the departure could happen “within two weeks, maybe two weeks, maybe three.”
It has been more than a month since the war in West Asia began with joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran. Tensions escalated after the killing of Iran’s 86-year-old supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameneiin military strikes on February 28.
In retaliation, Iran targeted Israeli and American assets across several countries Persian Gulf countriescausing further disruption to the waterway and affecting international energy markets as well as global economic stability and disrupting trade routes through the Strait of Hormuz.
The deal is not a condition, Trump says
Trump also clarified on Tuesday that the deal was not a prerequisite for the US to end “Operation Epic Fury” – the term used for military strikes against Iran.
“Iran doesn’t have to make a deal, no,” he said. “No, they don’t have to make a deal with me.
The fresh remarks are clearly a shift from the US president’s earlier stance. On Monday, Trump warned Iran that if the deal is not completed soon and the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened, the US may escalate its response. He said in the Truth Social post that this could include strikes on Iran’s key infrastructure, including energy facilities, oil fields, Kharg Island and possibly desalination facilities, targets he claimed he had so far deliberately avoided.
On Tuesday in another sharply expressed True Social contributionPresident Donald Trump has publicly attacked two of America’s closest allies — the United Kingdom and France — for refusing to join U.S. military action against Iran.
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President Trump has accused France of blocking US supply planes and called the UK “cowardly” for not helping to reopen Strait of Hormuz. He also warned both nations that they could no longer rely on American support and told them to “must belated courage” and “go for your own oil.”
France and Italy have pulled out of some US-Israeli military operations, the sources said, underscoring how the war has exposed divisions among the NATO allies.
The US is ready to continue the war, says Hegseth
Earlier in the day, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Trump was willing to strike a deal with Iran to end a war that has killed thousands, spread across the region, disrupted energy supplies and threatened to send the global economy into a tailspin.
The talks are continuing and gaining momentum, Hegseth said, but the U.S. is prepared to continue the war if Iran does not comply. “We have more and more options and they have less … in the single month that we set the terms, the coming days will be decisive,” Hegseth said in Washington.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards struck on Tuesday with a new threat against US companies in the region since Wednesday. It lists 18 businesses, incl Microsoft, Google, Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeingwhich would be targeted from 20:00 Tehran time.
Of those threats to companies, President Trump said, “They don’t have much left to threaten,” he said of Iran.
Getting direct messages from Steve Witkoff: Abbas Araqchi
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Tuesday that he was receiving direct messages from US special envoy Steve Witkoff, but they did not constitute “negotiations”, according to Al Jazeera television.
Read also | Britain’s Starmer takes the cost of living as Iranian pressure mounts
The messages include threats or exchanges delivered through “friends,” the Iranian leader said.
American General Dan Cainechairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that the US military is continuing to strike key production and research sites and has disabled more than 150 Iranian naval vessels.
They don’t have much left to threaten.
Despite the difficult situation, Iran remained defiant American and Israeli attacks over the past month, when the neighbors were drawn into the conflict. Heavy strikes were reported in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday evening, Reuters reported, citing sources.
(With inputs from agencies, Reuters)
