Kentucky, March 12
US president Donald Trump on Wednesday said that the International Energy Agency has agreed to coordinate the release of 400 million barrels of oil from national petroleum reserves worldwide in a bid to reduce prices amid conflict involving Iran.
Addressing a gathering here, Trump said, "I'm pleased to report that earlier today, the International Energy Agency agreed to coordinate the release of a record 400 million barrels of oil from various national petroleum reserves around the world, which will substantially reduce the oil prices, as we end this threat to America and this threat to the world."
He said the coordinated move was aimed at keeping global energy supplies stable while the United States continues military operations linked to the ongoing conflict.
"My administration is also working to keep the oil flowing all over," he said.
Trump also claimed that US forces had targeted Iranian naval capabilities in the Gulf region to prevent disruptions to maritime shipping routes.
"We have knocked out 58 naval ships. We knocked out their navy," he said, adding that US forces had also destroyed multiple Iranian mine-laying vessels allegedly intended to threaten commercial shipping.
"They also knocked out the mine layers. They put mines in the water. Lovely job. We knocked out 31 of them," he said.
Trump furhter said the US military used weapons systems previously deployed against maritime drug trafficking networks.
"I said, 'Why did you use the weapon that we use on the drugs that come in by sea?' Do you know that drug shipments by sea are down by 98 per cent? I said, 'That's a hell of a weapon.' They said, 'We'll give it a shot.' It worked very well," he said.
Trump added that Washington intends to continue operations until its objectives are achieved.
"We don't want to leave early, do we? We got to finish the job, right?" he said.
Earlier, Trump said that the United States carried out a military strike against Iran under an operation named "Epic Fury", claiming the action was aimed at eliminating threats posed by what he described as a "terrorist regime".
Addressing a gathering here, Trump said he chose this name for the operation out of the 20 names that the US military generals presented before him.
"I saw 'Epic Fury' and said, 'I like that name," Trump said, describing how officials presented him with a list of possible names for the strike.
"They gave me like 20 names, and I'm like falling asleep, I didn't like any of them. Then I see Epic Fury. I said, 'I like that name. I like that name'," he added.
- ANI
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