The United States is avoiding shattering Iran’s critical national infrastructure, particularly the power grid, President Donald Trump said Wednesday night in Maryland.
Addressing reporters at the Joint Base Andrews after a trip to Kentucky, Trump declared it would be “almost impossible” for Iran to rebuild the country if certain assets were struck.
“We could take apart their electric capacity within one hour, and it would take them 25 years to rebuild it. We won’t do that,” he added, ending the interview.
In his latest take, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S, Yechiel Leiter, said: “You can’t have nuclear bombs in the hands of a tyrannical, apocalyptic regime that intends on using it and talks about eliminating Western civilization.”
The Iranian leadership insists it will not surrender to America and Israel, with President Masoud Pezeshkian listing Tehran’s conditions to end the fire exchange.
“The only way to end this war is recognizing Iran’s legitimate rights, payment of reparations, and firm int’l guarantees against future aggression,” Pezeshkian wrote on X after communicating with Russia and Pakistan.
Since the start of the war, Pezeshkian has been in regular contact with President Vladimir Putin, who is mediating between Iran and the Arab States. The Russian leader spoke with President Donald Trump this week.
On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi decried the attacks on national infrastructure in the Islamic Republic, saying a branch of the oldest bank was bombed while full of employees.
“They were laboring to ensure Iranians have food on the table ahead of our New Year,” he said, vowing that Iran’s armed forces “will exact retribution for this crime.”
President Lula da Silva and President Cyril Ramaphosa called for peace in the Middle East during a parley in Brasília, where they held talks aimed at bolstering Brazil-South Africa trade ties.
French President Emmanuel Macron has spoken with G7 partners to discuss a coordinated response to the conflict. Iran’s capabilities “are not reduced to zero,” he remarked after the meeting on Wednesday.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, noted that the immediate priority “is to keep energy flows moving, especially navigation through the Strait of Hormuz—critical for the global economy.”
The diplomat, however, commended the decision by the International Atomic Energy Agency to release a record 400 million barrels of emergency reserve oil to ease tensions over energy supply as prices surge.
US refraining from destroying Iran’s electricity – Trump