Washington.- U.S. President Donald Trump stated this Monday that without his intervention and that of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “Israel would not exist today,” asserting that Iran would have obtained a nuclear weapon within a period of “two to four weeks” if Washington had not launched attacks against Tehran.
“I think Israel would not exist today if it weren’t for me and Netanyahu,” Trump said during an interview with conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt, in which he defended the U.S. offensive against Iran and asserted that the operation prevented the Persian country from reaching a military nuclear capability.
Trump, in a new attempt to justify the U.S. military operation against Iran, said it was necessary to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon and claimed that the Persian country was “two to four weeks” away from achieving it before the attacks.
The escalation of hostilities between the U.S. and Iran
Trump’s comments came amid a new escalation between Washington and Tehran, after the United States launched attacks against Iranian targets and Iran responded with offensives against countries allied with Washington in the region.
The White House maintains that the operations seek to reduce Iranian military capacity and prevent threats against Israel and maritime transport in the Strait of Hormuz.
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In the same interview, the president assured that Iran would be hit “very hard” tonight and tomorrow, just minutes before Central Command confirmed that it had begun the third consecutive day of attacks against the Islamic Republic.
The new US offensive comes after Trump announced the reinstatement of the naval blockade against Iran and asserted that Washington will assume the role of “guardian of the Strait of Hormuz,” one of the most important maritime routes for global energy trade.
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The U.S. president stated that other countries will have to compensate the United States with 20% of the cargo transported for the costs of ensuring security in that maritime route, which Tehran closed “until further notice” following the recent U.S. attacks.
Trump maintained that the process to implement that compensation will begin immediately and assured that the United States will not continue to protect nations that benefit from transit through the strait for free, while Iran has responded to the attacks with actions against Washington’s allied countries in the region.
