US President Donald Trump announced, in a speech he delivered before a gathering of the conservative “Turning Point USA” movement in Phoenix, Arizona, on Friday evening, that “we can make Lebanon a great country again.”
Trump confirmed that he had ended 10 wars, including the war between Iran and Lebanon, and stressed that enriched uranium would be transferred from Iran to the United States under any peace agreement reached. He added that Washington will help Tehran extract this uranium from the nuclear facilities that were destroyed last year, saying: “We will need the largest excavators and extract it in cooperation with Iran and return it to the United States very soon.”
Trump also stressed that Iran “will never possess a nuclear weapon,” indicating that he does not believe that there are major fundamental differences with Tehran at the present time.
In a brief statement to reporters, he referred to the resumption of talks between Washington and Tehran at the beginning of the week, and confirmed in an interview with Agence France-Presse that the two parties are “very close to reaching an agreement,” adding: “There are no sticking points.”
Trump spoke of the possibility of soon reaching an agreement with Iran, and praised the understandings related to the Strait of Hormuz and its nuclear program, while, through posts on social media, he described the developments as “a great, wonderful day for the world,” without announcing a final agreement.
He also praised the mediating role played by Pakistan alongside allies in the Arabian Gulf, in exchange for criticism directed at NATO, calling on its members to “stay away.”
In the same context, Trump welcomed Iran’s announcement to keep the Strait of Hormuz open throughout the ceasefire period, saying that it had agreed not to close it again or use it “as a weapon against the world.”
On the other hand, CNN quoted an American official as saying that the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford, along with two destroyers, are currently operating in the Red Sea.
