US President Donald Trump on Friday ruled out reaching a ceasefire agreement with Iran, as more Marines headed to the Middle East in a possible sign of a coming ground operation.
Trump insisted Washington had the upper hand in the three-week-old war, despite Iran effectively blockading the Strait of Hormuz in a move that has sent global oil prices skyrocketing.
“I think we have won,” Trump told journalists at the White House alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“I don’t want to do a ceasefire. You know you don’t do a ceasefire when you’re literally obliterating the other side.”
Trump would not confirm a report by the Axios news outlet that he was considering an occupation or blockade of Iran’s Kharg Island to pressure Tehran to reopen the strait.
“I may have a plan or I may not,” Trump said when asked by an AFP reporter. “It’s certainly a place that people are talking about but I can’t tell you.”
The White House told AFP earlier that the United States could “take out” the vital oil hub “at any time” if Trump chose.
US forces hit Kharg on Friday in strikes that Trump said had “totally obliterated” all military targets on the island, but Washington has so far avoided hitting its oil infrastructure.
Surging oil prices have put pressure on Trump to bring the war to an end, amid Republican fears the economic shock could hurt the party in November’s midterm elections.
Trump has previously said he does not plan to put boots on the ground in Iran.
– ‘We will REMEMBER!’ –
But The Wall Street Journal said Washington is deploying between 2,200 and 2,500 US Marines from the California-based USS Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
Asked about the reports, the Marine Corps said the two groups are “deployed at sea,” while the US 3rd Fleet said they are “conducting routine operations.”
A week ago, US media reported a separate deployment to the Middle East of some 2,500 Marines aboard as many as three ships.
Trump meanwhile branded NATO allies “cowards” for not heeding his demand for help in securing the Strait of Hormuz.
“So easy for them to do, with so little risk. COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!” Trump posted on his Truth Social network.
“Without the U.S.A., NATO IS A PAPER TIGER!” Trump posted.
He has blamed Iran’s stranglehold on the narrow waterway, through which around one fifth of global crude supplies pass in peacetime, for the current oil price spike.
Six key powers including Britain, France, Germany and Japan — whose premier met Trump at the White House on Thursday — say they are ready to “contribute to appropriate efforts” but have not made any commitment.
But the 79-year-old Republican — who rose to power on a promise to end America’s long Middle Eastern wars — nevertheless insisted the joint US-Israeli operation was going “extremely well.”
“It’s not even a contest,” Trump said earlier Friday as he presented naval cadets with an American football trophy at the White House.
Trump added of Iran that “we want to talk to them, and there’s nobody to talk to,” because of the killing of Iran’s former supreme leader and a host of other top officials.
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