Washington DC:United States President Donald Trump on Thursday (local time) again backed his decision of imposing a naval blockade in theStrait of Hormuz. Trump claimed the US has “total control” of the key waterway. He even vowed that Washington would recover stockpiles of Iran's highly enriched uranium, giving warning to Tehran against making nuclear weapons.
"We have total control of the Strait of Hormuz with our blockade; Iran will not get nuclear weapon or we’ll do something drastic," Trump told reporters during a press briefing in the White House.
The US President again asserted that Washington would not allow Tehran to retain near-weapons-grade nuclear material. As per the US officials, this nuclear material was hidden underground after airstrikes on Iran last year in June.
"We will get it. We don't need it, we don't want it. We'll probably destroy it after we get it, but we're not going to let them have it," Trump said at the press briefing.
According to reports, Iran is believed to have have nearly 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium. This uranium is considered enough for potential nuclear weapon development if refined further. The US wanted to retrive or destroy this enriched uranium.
The US and Iran are engaged in indirect talks to draft a final peace agreement for ending hostilities, as reported by Iran's ISNA News Agency. The two sides are reportedly engaging in messages and draft texts to reach the final draft. An Iranian official had earlier told Al Jazeera that the negotiators were “very close” to finalising an agreement.
Pakistan's minister Mohsin Naqvi is reportedly in Iran to discuss the status of the Strait of Hormuz, and intense mediation efforts are currently underway. However, it is still not clear when the final agreement will be reached.
The talks are taking place at a time when a fragile ceasefire is currently in force. Reports claimed that the US had used much of its advanced missile defence interceptors' inventory during the war.
According to reports, the US had used over 200 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) to defend Israel against Iran attacks. It had also used over 100 Standard Missile-3 and Standard Missile-6 interceptors, which were fired from naval vessels in the eastern Mediterranean.
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