President Trump said Wednesday he thinks oil tankers should still use the Strait of Hormuz to get oil flowing to the rest of the world.
Shippers are reluctant to use the waterway because Iran clamped down on maritime traffic after Mr. Trump and Israel bombarded Tehran and other parts of the Islamic republic.
“I think they should. I think they should use it,” Mr. Trump said as he left the White House for a trip to Kentucky. “We took out just about all of [Iran’s] mine ships in one night.”
Roughly 20% of the world’s oil travels through the strait, and the situation remains perilous. Iranian projectiles hit three vessels near the strait on Wednesday.
Mr. Trump and Israel started striking Iranian targets on Feb. 28, saying Iran did not accept U.S. terms around its nuclear ambitions, missile programs and support for terror proxies in the region.
Mr. Trump said Iran was paying for “47 years of abuse,” such as roadside bombs and other attacks that killed and maimed U.S. soldiers and other rivals in the region.
“They’ve lost their navy, they’ve lost their air force, they have no anti-aircraft apparatus at all,” Mr. Trump said. “Their leaders are gone, and we could do a lot worse.
“We’re not finished yet.”
The president also said he had not seen a preliminary formal report that found the U.S. military was responsible for a Tomahawk missile strike that hit an Iranian school on the first day of the war, killing scores of schoolchildren.
“I don’t know about it,” Mr. Trump said.
