Trump says he's keeping Strait of Hormuz closed and US doesn't know 'who's the leader in Iran' / The 'stupid' question that pissed him off

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he does not intend to use the nuclear weapon against Iran, during a press conference in the Oval Office, AFP, CNN and Sky News write.

“No, I wouldn't use it. Nobody should ever have the opportunity to use nuclear weapons,” said the US president, who was asked by a journalist if he was considering using the atomic bomb on Iran.

“We don't need that. Why are you asking such a stupid question? Why would I use a nuclear weapon when I've decimated them, in a very conventional way?” Trump shot back.

Trump's claims two weeks ago that “an entire civilization will perish tonight” if Iran does not reach a deal led some of his critics to publicly question whether he was referring to a nuclear attack. The United States and Iran agreed to a truce before the American leader carried out his threat.

Now, tensions continue to rise in the Strait of Hormuz, and the president has ordered the US Navy to “shoot and destroy” any Iranian vessels that lay mines in this vital sea route for the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

“I'm the one who kept the Strait of Hormuz closed,” Trump says

Donald Trump then claimed that the Strait of Hormuz remains closed on his own initiative.

“We're going to open the strait,” he told reporters at the White House.

“Right now, we are keeping it closed. We have total control over the strait. They (the Iranians, no) would have opened it three days ago. They came to us and said, 'We will agree to open the strait,'” he claimed.

“All my people are happy except me,” the US president added.

If the strait were opened now, Iran would earn $500 million a day, Trump also claimed.

“I'm the one who kept her locked up,” he insisted. “It will open when they (the Iranians, no) make a deal.”

Although Trump has begun to assert that he is in control of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has previously contradicted the US president on the matter and seized two ships in the strait this week.

Tehran has notably reinstated the blockade on the waterway to international shipping after briefly reopening during the truce, even though Trump had claimed Tehran would “never close it again”.

Trump says US doesn't know 'who is the leader in Iran'

President Donald Trump also said Thursday that his administration does not know who is currently the leader of Iran.

“They're delaying things because they… we don't know who to negotiate with,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, assuring them, however, that it won't take “long” until the war ends.

“They know who the leader of this country is. We don't know who the leader is in Iran,” Trump added.

“Because, remember, there was a regime change. (Ayatollah Ali Hosseini) Khameini is gone. He left for greener pastures. He left, and all his team left. Then a second group came. They all left. And now you have the third group, and they're a little worried that they're going to leave too,” he claimed.

Trump refuses to give deadline for ending war: 'Don't rush me'

The US president also declined to say how long he would be willing to prolong the war with Iran, telling White House reporters, “Don't rush me,” when pressed for a deadline.

“So I was in Vietnam for about 18 years, I was in Iraq for many, many years… I don't like to say World War II, because that was a big one, but I was four and a half years, almost five years in World War II,” Trump added.

The president pointed to the ceasefire in place as a promising sign in the negotiations, insisting: “We stopped a little earlier because they wanted to have a little peace.”

“They want to make a deal,” the president said. “We talked to them, but they don't even know who's running the country. They're in chaos, they're in chaos, so we thought we'd give them a little chance to sort out some of their chaos.”

Then Trump once again insisted he felt no pressure to quickly end the war despite his initial deadline of four to six weeks, pointing to Iran's inability to export oil during the ongoing naval blockade.

“I don't want to rush, you know, because all the articles say, 'Oh, Trump is under time pressure,'” he said. “No, no — you know who's under time pressure? Iran, because if they can't get their oil in, their entire oil infrastructure is going to explode.”