Trump Admin signals flexibility on Iran missiles
Washington, June 21
The Trump administration on Sunday indicated that Iran may be allowed to retain a limited missile capability under a future agreement, signalling a major shift from its earlier assertion that Tehran needs to dismantle its missile programme entirely.
The remarks came as US Vice President JD Vance prepared to open talks with Iranian officials, with both sides seeking to build on a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) reached after months of military confrontation in the Gulf.
During an interview on ABC's "This Week", Energy Secretary Chris Wright suggested that the complete elimination of Iran's missile arsenal was no longer the administration's objective.
Asked about President Donald Trump's recent comments that Iran could possess missiles in proportion to neighbouring countries, Wright said: "Need it go to zero? No, it probably doesn't need to go to zero, is what the president's saying."
The President had earlier declared that the United States would "destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally, again, obliterated."
More recently, however, Trump suggested a more limited goal.
"If Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and they all have some, I would say in relative proportion, I think, it's okay," Trump said when asked whether Iran could retain ballistic missiles under a future settlement.
Wright argued that the administration had already achieved much of its military objective.
"We've probably degraded their ability to make missiles by 90 per cent. That is a massive - I think you could call that an obliteration of their missile-making industry," he said.
He added that Iran had spent decades building military capabilities that far exceeded those of many regional neighbours.
"In the meantime, they have been just massively more armed than all their neighbours," Wright said. "That has been degraded massively."
— IANS
Reader Comments
Interesting shift. But what about the nuclear deal? India already has good relations with Iran - we need the Chabahar port and access to Central Asia. Any instability there hurts our strategic interests.
So after spending billions on bombing Iran, now they want a 'proportionate' missile program? What a waste of human lives and resources. The Middle East needs peace, not more US grandstanding. India should push for de-escalation.
As someone who works in energy markets, this could drive oil prices down if tensions ease. But Iran has never been reliable on agreements. India needs to secure its energy supplies - we import 200 million tons of crude annually!
Sad to see the US playing games with national security. They say 90% degraded today, tomorrow they'll say 70%. Meanwhile real Iranian people suffer from sanctions. India should stay out of this mess and focus on our own border security.
Vance opening talks is good - diplomacy over destruction of civilian infrastructure. But Trump's inconsistency is dangerous. Iran has seen America change its position every 4 years. India should use its good offices to facilitate stable arrangements.
N Nisha Z The We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.