Can't let lunatics go nuclear: Trump slams Iran over new proposal

Donald Trump said the US is at war with Iran to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons after rejecting Iran's peace proposal, keeping both military action and negotiations on the table amid ongoing tensions and global economic strain.

In Short

• Trump says US is at war to prevent nuclear weapons in wrong hands
• Iran submits new negotiation proposal via Pak, Trump 'unsatisfied'
• Trump jokes that US Navy will take on Cuba on its way home from Iran

US President Donald Trump said the United States is in a war with Iran because “lunatics can’t have a nuclear weapon,” even as he claimed that hostilities have been “terminated” following a ceasefire.

“You know, we're in a war because I think you would agree we cannot let lunatics have a nuclear weapon. Do you agree?” Trump told a cheering crowd at an event, drawing chants of “USA.”

IRAN SUBMITS FRESH PROPOSAL

Iran has submitted a fresh proposal for negotiations to the United States through mediators in Pakistan, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency. Trump said he was “not satisfied” with the offer and added that Tehran was seeking concessions he could not accept. “They want to make a deal, but ... I'm not satisfied with it,” he said, describing Iran’s leadership as “very disjointed.”

Despite ongoing negotiations and a ceasefire that has held for three weeks, Trump asserted that the war has been “terminated.” The White House also informed Congress that hostilities with Iran had ended, even as US armed forces remain deployed in the region.

The claim comes as the May 1 deadline under the War Powers Resolution, which requires congressional approval for military action within 60 days, passed without action. Trump dismissed the law as “unconstitutional,” while lawmakers left Washington after the Senate rejected a Democratic attempt to halt the war for the sixth time.

In a letter to Congress, Trump indicated that the conflict may not be over. “Despite the success of United States operations against the Iranian regime and continued efforts to secure a lasting peace, the threat posed by Iran to the United States and our Armed Forces remains significant,” he said.

Iran has long insisted on its right to enrich uranium for what it calls peaceful purposes, a position Western powers dispute. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran remains open to diplomacy if Washington changes what he described as its “excessive approach, threatening rhetoric and provocative actions.” He also warned that Iran’s armed forces are ready to defend the country against any threat.

Trump also raised the prospect of military escalation but signalled reluctance. “Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever? Or do we want to try and make a deal?” he said, adding, “On a human basis, I prefer not.”

US NAVY WILL TAKE ON CUBA ON THE WAY HOME FROM IRAN

“Cuba’s got problems,” Trump said in one of several digressions in his Friday evening speech before the non-profit Forum Club of the Palm Beaches. “On the way back from Iran, we’ll have one of our big, maybe the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier — the biggest in the world — we’ll have that come in, stop about 100 yards offshore, and they’ll say, ‘Thank you very much. We give up.’”

The Trump administration is in the midst of a months long campaign to press the Cuban government to make dramatic reforms. All the while, Trump has repeatedly threatened that the US could take military action against the island to get what he wants.

- Ends