Investing.com — President Trump said Tuesday that U.S. military forces will leave Iran in two to three weeks, stating that his goal of eliminating the country’s nuclear threat has been achieved. The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28.
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“We’ll be leaving very soon,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “We leave because there’s no reason for us to do this.”
The president said the U.S. does not need a deal with Iran to withdraw from the country. “It will take 15-20 years for them to rebuild what we’ve done to them,” he said.
Trump said Tuesday that military operations continue in Iran. “Last night, we knocked out tremendous amounts of missile-making facilities,” he said.
The president also addressed rising gasoline prices, which have topped an average of $4 a gallon. Trump said American consumers should expect gas prices to fall once he ends the war in Iran.
“Yeah, and we have a country that’s not going to be throwing a nuclear weapon at us,” Trump responded when asked about the price increase. “And they’re also feeling a lot safer.”
Trump added that responsibility for keeping the Strait of Hormuz open should fall on countries that depend on it, telling reporters there is “no reason for us to do this.”
“That’s not for us. That’ll be for France. That’ll be for whoever’s using the strait,” he added.
Trump will address the nation on Iran at 21:00 ET (23:00 GMT) on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a social media post.
Ebrahim Azizi, head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament, said that the Strait of Hormuz will reopen, but only for “those who comply with the new laws of Iran.”
“Trump has finally achieved his dream of ’regime change’—but in the region’s maritime regime,” Azizi said in a social media post.
Iran had earlier floated the prospect of charging a toll on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, with Azizi likely referring to that proposal.
Stocks rise, oil steady on Iran deescalation
Wall Street cheered the prospect of deescalation in the Iran conflict, with the S&P 500, , and rallying between 2.4% and 3.9% on Tuesday.
Stocks were also aided by bargain buying after concerns over the Iran war sparked deep losses through March. Wall Street has fallen for every week since the onset of the Iran war on February 28.
Oil prices– which clocked a record monthly gain on March amid disruptions caused by the Hormuz closure– remained upbeat after Trump’s comments, with West Texas Intermediate crude futures for May rising 0.4% to $101.77 a barrel.
A prolonged closure in Hormuz, or even a potential Iranian toll on vessels passing through the strait, is likely to keep oil prices elevated in the near-term.