Trump says he would ‘certainly’ go to war over Iranian nuclear weapons

On the issue of whether he would go to war “to protect international oil supplies,” the U.S. president said that he would keep that “a question mark.”

By World Israel News Staff

“I would certainly go over nuclear weapons,” U.S. President Donald Trump told Time Magazine when asked “what moves would lead him to consider going to war with Iran.”

Time says that the president made the statement “just hours” after Iran announced Monday that in 10 days it would break the uranium stockpile limit set by the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

“If Iran feels that the sanctions have been reinstated or not lifted, Iran has the right to partly, or on the whole, suspend its commitments,” said Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for the Iranian atomic agency announced, in reference to the earlier lifting of sanctions against Iran within the framework of the 2015 deal.

Last year, Trump imposed sanctions on Tehran after pulling the U.S. out of the nuclear pact. Iran has repeatedly criticized European countries for not acting to save the deal.

In response to Iran’s announcement on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated that “Israel will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.”

On the issue of whether he would go to war “to protect international oil supplies,” the U.S. president said that he would keep that “a question mark,” says Time.

“The Pentagon is dispatching an additional 1,000 troops to the Middle East in response to recent attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman that the United States blames on Iran,” reports Politico.

“The recent Iranian attacks validate the reliable, credible intelligence we have received on hostile behavior by Iranian forces and their proxy groups that threaten United States personnel and interests across the region,” said a statement from acting U.S. Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan, though it said that the American military move was “for defensive purposes.”

“So far, it’s been very minor,” Trump told TIME, in describing the attacks on oil tankers.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that Iranians “will overcome the challenge created by the enemies,” according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

“We are not in war with any nation, rather we are confronting a handful of inexperienced politicians,” Rouhani said, according to IRNA, the official news agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

“The U.S. has breached all international laws in the hostility against Iranians,” the Iranian president charged, according to the news agency.