Iran has ‘nearly’ accepted all the American conditions proposed during the ongoing diplomatic talks, says US President Donald Trump, while emphasising that the primary objective of the discussions remains preventing Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons. As said by Trump in a recent interview with a media outlet, both nations are on the verge of finalising a deal.
"I think they've agreed to just about everything we need."
Highlighting the nature of the engagement, Trump remarked, "We're in a war, and it's really the denuclearisation of Iran. This is not a war per se. This is the denuking of Iran. You can't let them have a nuclear weapon."
Furthermore, the US President claimed that American military operations have severely degraded Iran's defence capabilities over the course of the conflict. Reflecting on the impact of the military strikes, Trump then added, "I ripped their military apart. They have no navy, they have no air force, they have no radar, and their leaders are all dead. And they elect - not elect - they raise new leaders. They're all dead also. We're on the third set of leaders, and we actually get along with them."
Trump went on to say that the US has achieved a total military victory over Iran, adding that any remaining missile capabilities possessed by Tehran could be easily eliminated.
Detailing the recent series of military engagements, Trump said, "I've defeated them militarily. They're totally defeated militarily. They have some missiles left; we could wipe them out too. And I hit them three times last week very hard because they sent a drone into a ship. I hit them. Then they did something else, and I hit them. I hit them three nights in a row, the week before I hit them two nights in a row, very hard. And we're negotiating, and we'll see whether or not. I think they've agreed to just about everything we need."
According to Trump, the United States continues to maintain an absolute position of strength as the negotiations proceed. He pointed out, "We have all the assets. Now they are just waiting."
Trump added, "We have the great Navy, the greatest navy in the world. These guys are unbelievable. Not one ship got through to Iran. They have 300% inflation, and they're making no money. So we're going to take some of the money, and we're going to buy them. They need food. They need corn, and wheat, and soybeans, and we're going to have exclusively our American farmers provide that. Assuming we get to the position where we should get to. I think we're going to get there."
During the interview, the US president also took the opportunity to strongly criticise media coverage that portrayed Iran as being in a more advantageous position than it was prior to the outbreak of hostilities.
"The New York Times said the other day that Iran is in a better position now than it was four months ago. I said, wait a minute, their military is gone. Their inflation is up to 300% from 5%. Their leaders are gone. Their second row of leaders is gone. Some of their third row of leaders are gone. Their generals are mostly wiped out. But they said that they are in better shape today than they were four months ago, before we attacked,” the US president added.
Elaborating on the specific naval operations conducted against Iranian targets, the US president revealed that American forces had systematically destroyed Tehran's radar infrastructure, forcing them to repeatedly reconstruct their systems.
Describing the stealth operations, Trump stated, "We did something nobody knew. Every night, we were taking ships out through the South, which is the furthest point from where they have their little weapons, and they were going along the coast with no lights for a month and a half... We blew up Iran's radar; they had no radar; they still don't. We blew it up again the other night. They had a nice new radar, they were all set to go, and we blew it up last week. They have to start all over again for a third time."
These high-level assertions from the US president come roughly a day after American and Iranian representatives concluded a round of indirect diplomatic talks in Doha, the capital of Qatar. According to reports, the Doha sessions showed no immediate signs of a breakthrough towards long-term peace. Instead, negotiators focused heavily on unresolved details relating to an interim agreement that had initially been declared two weeks ago.
Qatar's Foreign Ministry confirmed that the next round of discussions will be paused until after the funeral processions for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is scheduled to be buried on July 9.
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