US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (US local time) described the ongoing conflict with Iran as a “skirmish” and claimed that Tehran wants to negotiate a deal but is “not ready” to do so.
Trump made the remarks during an event in Marietta, Georgia, while speaking about his administration’s Trump Accounts initiative. He also referred to the latest wave of US aerial strikes targeting Iran.
“This skirmish that we have with the Islamic Republic of Iran, and I call it that because let me tell you, they’re getting hit so hard, and they want to make a deal. But I say they’re not ready to make a deal because every time they make a deal they want to change it and everything. They’re not ready. They’ll be ready very soon,” Trump said.
During the event, the US President also honoured the family of Lt. Tyler Feehan, a US soldier killed while on active duty.
Earlier in the day, Trump travelled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to attend the dignified transfer of four US service members who were killed in connection with the ongoing conflict with Iran.
Among them was Lt. Tyler Feehan of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, who was killed on July 18 in Jordan while serving with the 2nd Battalion, 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
In his address, Trump also criticised the previous Biden administration, claiming the United States had undergone a significant turnaround under his leadership.
“Eighteen months ago our country was in trouble. It was a catastrophe. Sleepy Joe Biden and the radical left Democrats created the worst inflation in 48 years,” he said, adding that the world was “not laughing anymore” at the United States.
Meanwhile, amid US threats of further strikes on Iranian infrastructure, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi warned that any aggression against the country, including attacks on its infrastructure, would be met with a “decisive response,” adding that those contributing to such actions would also be considered “legitimate targets.”
Similar warnings were issued by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, both of which said any aggression against Iran would invite “decisive action.”
(With inputs from ANI)
