US President Donald Trump on Wednesday described the ongoing US naval blockade against Iran as "genius," saying that Tehran would have to accept its ‘defeat’ while ruling out any agreement unless it abandons its nuclear ambitions.
"The blockade is genius. The blockade has been 100% foolproof. It shows how good our Navy is, I can tell you that. Nobody's going to play games. We have the greatest military in the world, and I built much of it during my first term, and we've been building it since, and the greatest anywhere in the world, nobody even close," Trump said.
"Whether it's Venezuela, they had a good military in Venezuela, but it was over in one day, it was actually over in about 48 minutes. Iran, the same thing, I mean militarily we've wiped them out, they have no military left, their Navy's at the bottom of the sea, the Air Force is never going to fly again."
Further emphasising the economic pressure on Tehran, Trump said, "We've got an amazing military. Now, they have to cry uncle, that's all they have to do, just say, 'We give up. We give up.' But their economy is really in trouble, so it's a dead economy.”
On ongoing diplomatic efforts, he said, "I don't know, it depends. We have talks, we're having talks with them now, and we're not flying anymore with 18-hour flights every time we want to see a piece of paper. We're doing it telephonically, and it's very nice. I make a call, or I have my people make a call, and you know the answer... I always like face-to-face, I consider it better."
Trump stressed that any deal would hinge on nuclear concessions from Iran.
"They've come a long way. The question is whether or not they're going to go far enough. So at this moment, there will never be a deal unless they agree that there will be no nuclear weapons," he said.
Meanwhile, US Central Command commander Admiral Brad Cooper said the blockade has significantly disrupted Iran's oil trade.
"Today, US forces achieved a significant milestone after successfully redirecting the 42nd commercial vessel attempting to violate the blockade. This is a reflection of the outstanding work America's sons and daughters in uniform are doing to prevent maritime commerce from entering or exiting Iranian ports," he said.
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