Trump says makes 'no difference' to him if Iran, US reach deal
U.S. President Donald Trump said prior to the failure of the Islamabad talks that he was not bothered about any outcome of the negotiations, insisting the United States had come out ahead from the war.
"Whether we make a deal or not makes no difference to me. The reason is because we've won," Trump told reporters.
"We're in very deep negotiations with Iran. We win regardless. We've defeated them militarily," Trump said.
Trump was speaking as Vice President JD Vance was leading the U.S. delegation in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, with discussions with Iran heading into a second day.
Trump also repeated the U.S. military's statement that U.S. Navy warships on Saturday transited through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital gateway to the oil-rich Gulf, to begin clearing it of Iranian mines.
The account was denied by Iran, which has exerted power over the narrow waterway and with it the world's oil supply in retaliation for the attack launched on February 28 by the United States and Israel.
"We have minesweepers out there. We're sweeping the strait," Trump said.
"We'll open up the strait even though we don't use it, because we have a lot of other countries in the world that do use it that are either afraid or weak or cheap," Trump said.
He again voiced frustration with allies from NATO, who stayed on the sidelines during the war, and who were not consulted in advance.
"We were not helped by NATO, that I can tell you," Trump said.
Source: Agence France Presse
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