*’We’ve Decimated Iran’s Military Capability, Poses No Threat Any More’
*Says War Was To Protect America’s Gulf Allies, ‘We Don’t Need Their Oil, Resources’
*Again, Thumbs Down Obama’s 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal
*Urges Nations Receiving Oil Through Hormuz Strait To Do Needful
Oil prices surged almost immediately,on Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump’s first nationwide address on the Iran war.
His 20-minute speech did little to soothe market worries over the closure of the strait of Hormuz, with the President calling on other nations to help reopen it.
Brent jumped more than 4% to $105.55, while West Texas Intermediate climbed 3% to hit $103.16. Both had been falling before Trump started his speech.
With the increase, petrol prices in Nigeria are likely to go up too, though by a little margin.
Already, a litre of the product sells for over N1300 in most filling stations in the West African oil-producing giant, causing debilitating domestic and corporate dislocations to a nation in the vice grip of an unprecedented, suffocating cost of living crisis.
In the broadcast, Trump claimed victory for the US and its Persian Gulf allies, insisting that the US strikes had decimated Iran to the degree that it no longer posed a military or nuclear threat to its neighbours or the world.
He also disclosed that US was not interested in Middle East oil or any of its resources, but merely sought, by the war, to safeguard America’s allies from the Iranian ‘bully’.
In his address to the nation, Trump moved to justify the costs that the war is imposing on America and the world, while continuing to claim that he is close to winding up the conflict in “two or three weeks” from now.
Dwelling on Iran’s degraded military capacity, Trump said the Gulf country had been decimated and that the hard part of the war was done.
He, however, added that the US would hit Iran “extremely hard” for the next two to three weeks.
“Tonight, I’m pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion … In these past four weeks, our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield – victories like few people have ever seen before,” he said.
Again, Thumbs Down Obama’s 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal
The President was particularly critical of Barack Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, reiterating his longstanding derision of that framework, and commending his decision to pull out of it during his first term.
“His Iran deal would have led to a colossal arsenal of massive nuclear weapons for Iran,” Trump revealed.
Aside Obama, he criticised previous US administrations for failing to tackle Iran’s nuclear programme, saying previous Presidents “made mistakes and I am correcting them.”
“For years, everyone has said that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons. But in the end, those are just words if you’re not willing to take action when the time comes,” he noted.
Urges Nations Receiving Oil Through Hormuz Strait To Do Needful
The President also once again called for countries that receive oil through the strait of Hormuz to show “courage” and seize the key waterway, while saying Washington will not allow its Middle East allies to be harmed.
“The countries of the world that … receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage. Just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves,” he urged.
He also thanked “our allies in the Middle East – Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain,” saying: “They’ve been great, and we will not let them get hurt or fail in any way, shape or form.”
Trump claimed the military action was launched to help America’s allies in the region.
“We’re now totally independent of the Middle East, and yet we are there to help … We don’t have to be there. We don’t need their oil. We don’t need anything they have … We’re there to help our allies,” he said.
Promises Fresh Hell If Iran Processes Its Highly Enriched Uranium
Earlier on Wednesday, the President had said he did not care about Iran’s stock of highly enriched uranium (HEU) as it was deep underground and could be monitored by satellite.
He reiterated this during the broadcast, saying Iran’s various nuclear sites are under “intense satellite surveillance and control.”
“If we see them make a move, even a move for it, we will hit them with missiles very hard again,” Trump promised.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Trump addressing the nation.
