Trump says Iran reached out 'this morning', wants a deal
US President Donald Trump holds a press conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC on April 6. Photo: Reuters
US President Donald Trump on Monday said that they were contacted by the right and appropriate people in Iran, and they want to work out a deal.
"We've been called this morning by the right people, the appropriate people, and they want to work a deal," said Trump during a news conference.
However, he reiterated that the United States would not agree to any deal unless Iran abandoned its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
“Iran will never obtain nuclear weapons,” Trump said, adding that previous US administrations had regretted not taking stronger action.
President Trump on negotiations with Iran: "We've been called this morning by the right people, the appropriate people, and they want to work a deal." pic.twitter.com/wFGhnXi2hE
He said no country could “blackmail the world” by attempting to block the Strait of Hormuz amid rising tensions over Iran.
“We can’t let a country blackmail or extort the world. We’re not going to let that happen,” Trump said.
Trump said the United States did not rely on the strategic waterway for its energy needs, adding that it had sufficient oil and gas resources.
“We do not use the Strait of Hormuz and we do not need it. We have our own oil and gas, much more than we need,” he said, adding that oil shipments to the US continued through other routes.
He said the United States had more oil and gas than Saudi Arabia or Russia, and claimed production would double next year, adding that the world — not the US — needed the Strait of Hormuz to remain open.
Read More: Trump warns of 'eliminating' Iranian ships
The president also suggested Washington would not require assistance from other countries if it took part in a blockade of Iranian ports, though he noted that some nations were prepared to support such efforts.
Earlier in a post on Truth Social platform, Trump said "Iran’s Navy is laying at the bottom of the sea, completely obliterated - 158 ships. What we have not hit are their small number of, what they call, “fast attack ships,” because we did not consider them much of a threat. Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our blocked, they will be immediately eliminated, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea. It is quick and brutal. P.S. 98.2% of Drugs coming into the US by ocean or sea have stopped!".