Trump Reiterates Short Iran Exit Timeline, Says Could Return For 'Spot Hits'

WASHINGTON, April 1: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the US will be "out of Iran pretty quickly" and could return for "spot hits" if needed. He also reiterated that he is "absolutely" considering an attempt to withdraw the US from NATO.

Answering when the US would consider the Iran war over, Trump said "I can't tell you exactly .... we're going to be out pretty quickly."

Trump said that US action in the region has ensured that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. "They won't have a nuclear weapon because they are ​incapable of that now, and then ​I'll ⁠leave, and I'll take everybody with me, and if we have to we'll ⁠come ​back to do spot hits," ​Trump said.

The Republican leader's comments come hours before his address to Americans on the state of war.

Earlier in the day, Trump said that Iran's president, whom he called "much less radicalised" and "far more intelligent" than his predecessors, wants a ceasefire. He claimed that a ceasefire would only happen when the Strait of Hormuz is "open, free, clear".

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addressed the situation in the Strait of Hormuz and said that the waterway lied within the territorial waters of Iran and Oman and was subject to strategic use.

"Only for the ships of those who are at war with us, this strait is closed. That is normal during war – we cannot let our enemies use our territorial waters for commerce," he told Press TV.

He said that a few countries had negotiated with Iran on the use of the Hormuz Strait, and other ships have decided not to use it because of high insurance prices and security concerns.

Speaking earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi signalled Tehran's willingness to keep fighting. “You cannot speak to the people of Iran in the language of threats and deadlines,” he said. “We do not set any deadline for defending ourselves.”

Trump ‘considering pulling out of NATO’ after setback from allies in Iran war: Report

WASHINGTON, April 1: The United States' war against Iran has exposed several fractures in the US over domestic support to an overseas war and also put to test allies and their allegiances in the ongoing conflict, now in its second month.

After a series of rebukes from European allies over support to US and its operations in the Middle East, Trump has now professed a 'dangerous idea', one that has more global ramifications than US-Europe relations: a possible exit from NATO, a military bloc that was once formed by US as its founding member.

In an interview with The Telegraph, US President Trump said he is strongly considering pulling the US out of the military bloc after it failed to join the war against Iran.

The recent remark comes after Trump's several outbursts against NATO countries, saying NATO nations have done "absolutely nothing" to help with Iran and that he needs "no help from NATO".

The US President labelled the alliance a “paper tiger” even as he said that walking out of the treaty was now “beyond reconsideration”.

When asked if he would reconsider the US’s membership of NATO after the Iran War, he said, “Oh yes, I would say [it’s] beyond reconsideration. I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way.”

Trump's anguish with NATO countries stem from a range of setbacks from his allies in the West, especially amid developments after February 28.

When Trump called European nations and their warships to join US efforts in ending US blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, not even one country replied in the affirmative.

Over the weeks, Switzerland denied airspace to US warplanes fighting against Iran, while Spain condemned the US war in Iran, in strongest word in a series of statements and public remarks. Italy has also denied permission to US aircraft seeking to land at bases in Sicily.

France has allowed the use of its bases for support functions like refuelling, but refused to permit operations linked to offensive strikes.

In light of these developments, Trump's remark is a fresh evidence of Europe drifting away from the US, a trend that started with disagreements over aid to Ukraine against Russia and latest with the war in Iran.