Washington: US President Donald Trump revealed he is reviewing a new 14-point Iranian proposal to end the conflict, while signalling openness to eliminating Tehran's remaining missile capability and slashing American troop levels in Europe.
Speaking to reporters on the tarmac in Palm Beach before departure, Trump said: “We’re doing very well with regard to Iran. They want to make a deal.” He confirmed examining the Tehran offer: “I’m looking at it… I’ll let you know about it later.”
Trump portrayed Iran as vulnerable: “They wanna make a deal, they’re decimated. They’re having a hard time figuring out who their leader is.” On Iran's estimated 15% missile remnants, he added: “Well, I’d like to eliminate it. Yeah. I’d like to. It’d be a start for them to build up again, and yeah, I would like to eliminate it.”
He left the door open to further US military action: “If they misbehave if they do something bad… it’s a possibility that could happen. Certainly.” Trump defended regional enforcement as a “very friendly blockade” unchallenged by foes, and floated US energy firms operating in Iran: “Could be. It could be.” He boasted of booming US oil exports: “We have a lot of ships coming up to Texas and Louisiana… literally hundreds of ships are in line… we’re selling a lot of oil.”
In a separate remark, Trump announced deeper-than-expected troop reductions in Germany: “We’re gonna cut way down and we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000.” He slammed congressional oversight as “hurting our negotiating ability, which is infinite right now.”
(Inputs from IANS)