US President Donald Trump has suggested that Iran has “virtually given up” any plans to develop nuclear weapons, one of his administration’s most frequently stated objectives in the war with Tehran, now in its eighth month.
Trump also claimed on Saturday that oil prices were currently decreasing, long elevated after Israel and the US launched strikes against Iran on February 28.
“Oil is coming down. Oil is right now lower, and it’s been lower than it was under the Biden administration, and they did nothing about the fact that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told reporters as he departed the White House to attend a rally in the US state of Ohio.
“By the way, Iran, as you know, has virtually given up any plans of a nuclear weapon,” he added.
Iran has long denied accusations by the US and Israel that it seeks to develop nuclear weapons, a position reiterated by President Masoud Pezeshkian during his visit last month to New York for the UN General Assembly.
Pezeshkian said Tehran is not seeking nuclear weapons because of a religious prohibition, and offered to dilute its enriched uranium stockpiles under international verification.
Iran, however, has maintained that it will not compromise on its peaceful civilian nuclear programme or make structural concessions unless the US lifts economic sanctions.
Renewed military attacks?
Trump travelled to Ohio on Saturday, where his Republican Party is in a tight race for a US Senate seat as it tries to hold on to its narrow congressional majority.
Multiple incumbent Republican senators across the US face tough political headwinds, with support for the Iran war falling as higher prices for gasoline and other staples persist.
In recent days, the US military has reportedly deployed two additional Patriot missile batteries to protect energy facilities in Saudi Arabia and Qatar amid preparations for possible renewed military attacks on Iran.
One battery was sent to Saudi Arabia last month to protect a key oil facility, while another was deployed to Qatar to defend a natural gas facility, the report said.
The deployments were intended to reassure both countries that Washington would protect their critical energy infrastructure if US resumes major combat attacks on Iran.
