Washington, Oct 2 (IANS): US President Donald Trump said that the war with Iran would end “very quickly” and predicted oil prices would fall sharply once the conflict was over, as he portrayed Tehran as militarily and economically weakened.
Speaking to reporters after arriving in Texas and later during a visit to a Peterbilt Motors facility in Denton, Trump said Iran faced a choice over how the conflict would end.
“Iran will very soon be ending one way or the other,” Trump told reporters. “It’ll either just say, look, they have 301 percent inflation. They have no money, they have no currency. Their military has been defeated, their navy is gone, their air force is gone, everything’s gone.”
“And, one way or the other, it’s going to end very quickly. And when that ends, oil prices are going to drop like a rock,” he said.
Trump also said the United States could consider seeking the release of diesel stocks held by a European country to help ease prices, although he did not identify the country.
“Well, we may do that. They have some diesel, but the prices are coming down. All prices are coming down,” he said.
Trump acknowledged that oil prices remained elevated, but argued they were lower than under former President Joe Biden.
“The one thing we have is oil is a little high, but oil is much lower than it was for Biden,” he said. “And we did something that Biden didn’t do. Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.”
During his later remarks at the Peterbilt facility, Trump returned repeatedly to Iran and energy prices. He said the United States had maintained movement of oil despite the conflict and Iranian restrictions around the Strait of Hormuz.
“And when that happens, when that ends, which will be very soon, one way or the other, it’s going to end, either they’ll do something very proper and smart or they won’t be around very long,” Trump said.
“So one way or the other, it’s going to be over. And when it’s over, oil is going to go like that. In the meantime, prices have come way down, oil prices,” he said.
Trump also said he could not confirm Iran’s involvement in what a reporter described as a failed terror plot involving RAF Fairford in Britain.
“I can’t say that with confirmation, but it’s looking like that,” Trump said when asked about possible Iranian involvement.
The President coupled his comments on Iran with an economic message during his visit to Texas, arguing that his administration had failed to receive sufficient credit for the state of the US economy.
“We have great numbers we’re doing a great job of management,” Trump said.
He pointed to the stock market, retirement accounts and investment in new factories while saying his administration needed to communicate its economic record more effectively.
“So I say we’ve done a bad public relations job, but a great management job and that’s more important,” he said.
Trump has made preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon a central objective of US policy. The White House has said the objectives of Operation Epic Fury include destroying Iran’s missile capabilities and production capacity, eliminating its naval capabilities and preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
