Washington, March 23 (IANS) President Donald Trump said Monday the United States will hold off on planned strikes against Iran for five days to test diplomacy, saying talks with Tehran show “a very good chance” of a deal.
Trump made the remarks at a Memphis Safe Task Force roundtable in Tennessee, where he said the decision followed “preliminary conversations between the United States and Iran over the past two days.”
“I’ve directed the Department of War to temporarily postpone planned strikes against major energy and electricity targets in Iran,” he said, adding the move was aimed at determining “whether a broader agreement can be reached.”
He said the pause would allow both sides to assess the outcome of ongoing talks. “We’re giving it five days, and then we’re going to see where that takes us,” Trump said.
The President expressed optimism about diplomacy. “I think this is a very good chance we’re going to end up in a deal,” he said, adding that Iran “wants peace.”
Trump linked the diplomatic opening to recent U.S. military action. “It’s only because of the great job that our military did that they mean business,” he said. “They want to settle, and we’re going to get it done.”
He claimed U.S. operations had significantly degraded Iran’s military capacity. “We knocked out their Navy. We knocked out their air force. We knocked out their anti-aircraft. We knocked out everything,” Trump said.
According to him, Iran’s missile and drone infrastructure has been sharply reduced. “We’re destroying their ballistic missiles and drones’ programs, with launchers down by more than 90 per cent,” he said.
Trump reiterated that preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons remains a core U.S. objective. “We’ll ensure that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
He also indicated that Iranian negotiators had signalled their willingness to make concessions. “They’ve agreed they will not have a nuclear weapon,” he said, while cautioning that “you have to get it done.”
The President said planned strikes on Iranian infrastructure had been imminent. “We were planning to shoot down some of their power plants, and we’re not going to. We’re going to hold that up,” he said.
Trump said U.S. allies, including Israel, had played a key role. “They’ve really been a good partner in the fight,” he said.
Trump criticised Democrats over a partial shutdown affecting airport security operations. He pointed to “appalling lines and massive disruptions at major airports nationwide” and urged Congress to “restore the full funding for airport security and the TSA.”
He accused Democrats of blocking funding tied to border enforcement and voter identification. “They are holding it up because they want to take care of illegal immigrants coming into our country,” he said.
–IANS
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