WASHINGTON (Agencies) - US President Donald Trump has chillingly threatened to "blast the hell" out of Iran as he sent a huge warning over reaching a deal with the US. Tensions remain at breaking point between the two countries as America continues its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, stopping Iranian oil and gas supplies from exiting the vital shipping channel.
A deal between the two sides seems as far away as ever, with rounds of talks collapsing without an agreement. Now, Trump has warned Iran has two choices. Speaking to reporters outside the White House, he said: "Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever, or do we want to try and make a deal?"
Pressed on whether the US President wants to "blast the hell out of Iran", he replied: "I prefer not to on a human basis, but that's the option." Trump also shot down fears the US could be running out of missiles following reports that White House officials were starting to worry about the inventory.
He said: "We have more than we've ever had, actually, because all over the world we have inventory and we can take that if we need it. All over the world, we have tremendous amounts of inventory.
"We're stocked and locked and loaded. Right now, we have more than double what we had when this started."
The US President also told reporters outside the White House anyone who would tolerate Iran having a nuclear weapon "is not very smart".
He said: "It will be a terrible thing in the future if they were ever allowed to have a nuclear weapon.
"You would have problems the likes of which the world has never seen before, and it's not going to happen.
"Aside from that, right now, they have no navy... no air force. It's been wiped out.
"They have no anything. They have no anti-aircraft. They have no radar."
Trump says Iran seeks terms he ‘can’t agree to’ in latest peace proposal Trump says the Iranian offer sent via Pakistan contains terms he’s not satisfied with.
Donald Trump has said that he is “not satisfied” with Iran’s latest peace proposal to end the war which has killed thousands and triggered a global energy crisis.
The US president said he was uncertain whether a deal with Iran would be reached, warning that he would “blast them away” if negotiations failed.
“They want to make a deal, I’m not satisfied with it, so we’ll see what happens,” Trump said, as a ceasefire in the conflict continued for a third week.
The president added that he would prefer to reach an agreement that prevents a return to war, but threatened that a resumption of the conflict might be necessary.
“They’re asking for things I can’t agree to,” Trump said.
STALLED TALKS
Negotiations to end the war have been stalled for weeks. Talks in Islamabad, which began on April 11 and lasted for more than 21 hours, failed to produce even a basic framework for further discussions.
A ceasefire has been in place since April 8, freezing hostilities that began on February 28 after the US-Israeli attack on Iran. The pause has temporarily eased fears of a deepening conflict that could have catastrophic consequences for the region and beyond.
The international community remains eager for a deal that would end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz – through which 20 percent of the world’s shipments of oil and liquefied natural gas usually flow.
An Iranian diplomatic source told Al Jazeera that their country’s government submitted a new proposal to Pakistani mediators on Thursday.
A Pakistani official told Reuters that it had received Tehran’s latest peace proposal, which had been forwarded to the United States.
While the contents of the proposal have not been disclosed, Trump said it included terms he could not agree to.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is open to diplomacy if Washington alters what he described as its “threatening rhetoric” and “expansionist approach”.
Iran has repeatedly warned that it is prepared for the war to resume, threatening to strike US interests in the region and energy infrastructure.
‘BOTH SIDES WANT TO SAVE FACE’
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Sultan Barakat, senior professor in public policy at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, said both Iran and the US are eager to end the conflict, but in a way that does not make them appear weak.
“Both sides are really desperate to bring an end to this war in a way that allows them to save face,” he said.
Trump imposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports on April 13 in a bid to pressure Tehran into returning to negotiations and accepting Washington’s terms.
Barakat said Tehran’s decision not to attack US warships involved in the blockade underscores Iran’s desire to reach a deal.
“They didn’t try to force their way across that blockade,” he said, but instead sought “alternative routes through Pakistan and elsewhere”.
Trump has repeatedly said that any deal with Iran must guarantee it will not pursue a nuclear weapon. Tehran, for its part, has denied plans to weaponise its nuclear programme, insisting it is solely for civilian purposes.