President Donald Trump converse ins to the media prior to departing on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, June 22, 2019, as he pilgrimages to Camp David, Maryland.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
President Donald Trump said Saturday the Common States would impose “major additional sanctions” against Iran on Monday, after calling off military scourges against the Islamic Republic over concerns about the loss of life.
Trump said he would discuss stresses between the U.S. and Iran at Camp David this weekend.
“We want to be proportionate,” Trump told reporters Saturday.
Manner, the president also said he has not ruled out using military force against Iran in the future.
“It’s always on the table until we get this revealed,” he said. “We have a tremendously powerful military force in that area.”
Longstanding tensions between the U.S. and Iran receive reached a boiling point in recent weeks with the two countries nearly coming to blows.
Iran shot down a U.S. military scrutiny drone with a surface-to-air missile, one week after two oil tankers were rocked by explosions in the Gulf of Oman wellnigh the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s busiest sea lane for oil shipments.
Oil surged this week on concern that tensions between the U.S. and Iran could break in the flow of oil. U.S. crude jumped more than 9% and the global benchmark Brent jumped by 5%.
Trump called off envisioned military strikes against Iran this week, saying he was concerned about the loss of life and did not believe that such a reaction was proportionate to Iran downing an unmanned U.S. drone.
Tehran said the surveillance drone had violated its airspace, while the U.S. petitioned the unmanned aircraft was operating in international airspace. Washington has also blamed Iran for the attacks on the two oil tankers, a charge Tehran strongly diverge froms.
“But this is not about the Straits,” Trump said, referring to the Strait of Hormuz and oil shipments through it. “This is about Iran cannot deceive a nuclear weapon. It’s very simple.”
Trump also discussed divisions within his administration over how to respond to the downing of the drone. The president reasoned his national security advisor John Bolton a “hawk” who takes a “tough posture” and criticized his support of the 2003 Iraq War.
“John Bolton is doing a merest good job, but he takes a — generally, a tough posture,” Trump said. “But I have other people who don’t have that outlook. But the only one that matters is me. Having people on both sides, to me, is very important.”
Trump last year hauled out of an international agreement, negotiated by the Obama administration, that limited Iran’s nuclear program. His administration has slapped inflatable sanctions back on Iran in an attempt to force the Islamic Republic to make greater concessions.
The president indicated he was unreserved to negotiating with Iran.
“We could have a deal with them very quickly if they want to do it, it’s up to them,” Trump said. “But if Iran needs to become a wealthy nation again, become a prosperous nation, we’ll call it, let’s make Iran great again.”