JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump has stated that he does not support a ceasefire in a conflict involving the United States and Israel with Iran.
The statement was made on Saturday, March 21, or a day after his comments to reporters at the White House.
"I don't want to make a ceasefire. You know, you don't make a ceasefire when you're really destroying the other side," Trump said, quoted by Anadolu.
When asked about the possibility of Israel ending the war in conjunction with Washington, Trump said the relationship between the two countries was very good and had a common goal.
"I think so. The relationship is very good. We want more or less the same things. We want to win, both of us," he said.
The statement came just hours after Trump hinted at a desire to open a dialogue with Iran. However, he assessed that no party could be invited to speak after the attack which lasted for weeks.
The attack reportedly killed a number of high-ranking Iranian officials, including Ali Khamenei and Ali Larijani.
On the other hand, Iran rejected the idea of a ceasefire. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that the United States was responsible for the conflict and its impact on the wider region.
On the same occasion, Trump also touched on the dependence on the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial global oil shipping route. He assessed that the United States was not too dependent on the route.
"We don't use the strait. We don't need it. Europe needs it. South Korea, Japan, China. So they have to be a little involved," he said.
The Strait of Hormuz has been in the spotlight since the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced restrictions on most vessels in response to a joint US-Israeli attack that began on February 28.
Trump's efforts to seek international support in reopening the route have not received a broad response. A number of countries consider this conflict to be the consequence of military action taken without international consultation.
Tensions in the region have been rising since a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran in late February. The attack reportedly killed about 1,300 people, including more than 150 children at a girls' elementary school.
Iran then retaliated with missile strikes and drones targeting Israeli territory as well as assets associated with the United States in the region, exacerbating the escalation of the conflict.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
