Washington, May 23 (IANS) The Trump administration is preparing for a fresh round of military strikes against Iran despite ongoing diplomatic efforts, US media reported, citing sources with direct knowledge of the planning.
No final decision had been made as of Friday afternoon (local time), reports Xinhua news agency, quoting CBS News.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump claimed that Iran was seeking negotiations after recent US military actions, saying Tehran’s military capabilities had been severely weakened and insisting the country “will never have a nuclear weapon”.
Addressing a rally in New York’s Rockland County, Trump said the US military had inflicted major damage on Iran and warned that Washington would not allow Tehran to develop nuclear weapons.
“Now, Iran, their Navy’s gone, their air force is gone everything’s gone, their leaders are gone,” Trump told supporters. “And if you read the fake news, you’d think they’re doing just fine. They’re not doing just fine. They want to settle so badly.”
Trump later repeated the claim while discussing energy prices and the US economy.
“We’re going to have to journey down to the Middle East,” he said. “Because Iran is going to have a nuclear weapon if we don’t stop them. And I said, we’re going to have to do it, and we have stopped them.”
“They’re not going to ever have a nuclear weapon,” Trump added. “They’re never going to have a nuclear weapon.”
The President framed the Iran confrontation as part of a broader national security and economic strategy, arguing that stabilising the Middle East would help lower global energy prices.
“Oil prices are going to tumble as soon as I finish up with Iran, tumble, boom,” Trump said.
The remarks came as Trump praised recent US military operations and highlighted what he called the strength of the American armed forces.
“We have the greatest military in the world right now,” Trump said. “There’s nobody like our equipment. There’s nobody like the stuff we produce.”
He also referenced “Operation Epic Fury”, describing Iran as “the world’s number one state sponsor of terror”.
“They send their money all over the world to create problems,” Trump said. “Never going to happen.”
Trump used the rally to argue that his administration had restored American global standing after what he described as weakness under former President Joe Biden.
“I was with the king of Saudi Arabia two years ago,” Trump said. “He said, ‘Mr. President, it’s amazing, two years ago, you were a dead country.’”
The President also claimed his tariff policies and economic agenda had strengthened the US economy despite global tensions.
“Today, we just — an amazing thing happened,” Trump said. “The Dow Jones hit 50,702.”
Trump’s comments on Iran drew some of the loudest applause of the evening as supporters repeatedly chanted “USA, USA”.
The rally in Rockland County was largely focused on immigration, crime and tax cuts, but Trump repeatedly returned to foreign policy themes, portraying military strength as central to his administration’s agenda.
–IANS
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