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U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States has no immediate plans to strike Iran, describing the stand-off with Tehran as a "brilliant situation" while saying U.S. forces remain ready to act, the Financial Times reported.
"We seem to be getting everything we want," Trump said in a six-minute phone interview Wednesday, hours before polls closed in the U.S. midterm elections.
Asked about strong hints by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that an attack could come later this week, Trump said: "I’m ready, we’re ready. We’re locked and loaded if we need to go, but there may be no reason for it."
"We’re not really in a war, because we hit them with the B2 bombers and wiped out their nuclear potential incapacity," Trump said, referring to earlier U.S. operations including Operation Epic Fury. "I don’t consider that we’re in a war like Ukraine, wars like World War I, World War II."
Trump said more oil was passing through the Strait of Hormuz than before the war and that the U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports was stifling Tehran’s economy.
He said he would not share attack plans in advance.
The U.S. carried out what it called defensive strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island on Monday.
Trump said indirect negotiations over Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, which he calls "nuclear dust," were continuing.
"Even though it’s under hundreds of tons of rock, I would say that I’m not happy that it will be there," he said, adding, "So it’s one of the things that we do talk to them about."
Brent crude has fallen by more than $10 a barrel in recent days to about $104 on hopes of a breakthrough, though U.S. gasoline prices hit a new average high on Tuesday.
"Iran is ready for any scenario; if the United States wants to pursue another scenario, Iran is serious in defense," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said, according to Tasnim.
"The aggression against Iran has not ended in our view," he said, responding to the Qeshm strike. "If they claim that they are seeking a diplomatic settlement, they must adhere to the requirements of our country that it has specified."
Trump also said he was optimistic about Russia-Ukraine talks.
"I think they’re both at the point of saying, ‘Let’s make a deal,’" he said.
The U.S. and Israel launched attacks against Iran on Feb. 28. Tehran retaliated against Israel and U.S. targets in the region before a ceasefire was reached in April.
The U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on freedom of navigation in the strait on June 18, but implementation stalled over disagreements concerning security arrangements.
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