The disconnect between Trump's comments in an interview with Time magazine -- in which he also warned that he would "certainly" go to war with Iran were the country to develop nuclear weapons -- and recent statements by national security adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo come at a time of escalating military posturing between the two countries and a heightened risk of confrontation.
Last week, two tankers -- one carrying oil and the other transporting chemicals -- were attacked near the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route that has been the focal point of regional tensions for decades. Roughly 30% of the world's sea-borne crude oil passes through the strategic choke point, making it a flashpoint for political and economic friction.
The United States has blamed Iran for the attack on the tankers in the Gulf of Oman, releasing video footage that it claims shows an Iranian patrol boat removing an unexploded mine from one of the vessels' hulls. Both Pompeo and Bolton have issued statements blaming Iran for the most recent attack, and Trump himself last week accused Iran of being behind the latest provocation, telling Fox News, "it was them that did it."
Tehran has categorically denied the accusations. In the Time interview, Trump downplayed the incidents.
"So far, it's been very minor," Trump said.
He also downplayed the importance of the Gulf of Oman, suggesting that the US doesn't rely on the region for oil and energy as much as other countries.
"We're not in the position that we used to be in in the Middle East," Trump said.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment on Trump's remarks.
Recent actions by Washington and Tehran have again raised the possibility of military confrontation in the Persian Gulf. On Monday, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said the US will send 1,000 additional US forces and more military resources to the Middle East, hours after Iran said it was ramping up enrichment of low-grade uranium and will pass the limit it is allowed to stockpile under the nuclear deal in 10 days, the latest blow to the nuclear deal agreed between Tehran and world powers in 2015.
And last month, Bolton announced that the Pentagon was deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the region in response to a "number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings" from Iran.
Asked by Time what moves would lead him to consider going to war with Iran, he said, "I would certainly go over nuclear weapons, and I would keep the other a question mark," referring to the possibility of military action to protect oil supplies.
But when asked if he was considering military action against Iran, the President told Time, "I wouldn't say that. I can't say that at all."
The mixed signals coming from the Trump administration have unnerved allies, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff said Tuesday.
"The bigger problem is that the administration has been going it alone, escalating pressure on Iran, reneging on the Iran nuclear deal," Schiff, a California Democrat, told CNN's John Berman on "New Day." "And now, when you have Iran engaged in these provocative and belligerent acts attacking shipping, we can't find our allies anywhere. They're worried about this administration rushing to war. They don't have trust in the administration. The administration has ignored their warnings."
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/18/politics/donald-trump-iran-tanker/index.html
2019-06-18 13:41:00Z
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