U.S. President Donald Trump praised his “good relationship” with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun during their meeting in the Oval Office, noting that the two would discuss how to support the Lebanese army as it works to disarm the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants.

When asked if he would speak directly with Hezbollah officials, Trump said he would.

“I would talk to Hezbollah. I talk to everyone,” Trump said. “I talk to people whom many believe I shouldn’t talk to, and things work out,” he said.

Pointing to Aoun, Trump said, “If the President wanted me to talk to Hezbollah, I would do it,” he emphasized.

President Trump also stated that the U.S. would strike Mount Pikax, an alleged nuclear material storage facility, although he did not confirm whether they believe centrifuges have been moved to the site.

“It means nothing unless they have the material,” Trump said. “They don’t have it—we’re tracking the material. That’s where the action is. And we’re going to hit that area hard—probably very soon,” he added.

He also noted that he would not normally warn Iran, but that “there’s nothing they can do about it.”

President Trump also spoke about the recent Iranian attacks on bases in Jordan, including Friday’s strike that killed American soldiers, and suggested that there were “other operators” at the base who “let something slip through.”

“Indeed, they let something slip through in Jordan, and we had other operators there,” Trump said, adding that “we have the best equipment in the world; you know, we’ve stopped almost everything.”

“But when you let other people do your job for the United States—we let other people do the work—sometimes it doesn’t go so well,” he said, without offering any further details.

He insisted on Tuesday that Iran is “desperate” to meet for ceasefire talks, despite the fact that the U.S. and Iran have been exchanging limited attacks for over a week.

However, Trump maintained that the war is not over yet, telling reporters at the White House that “until they’re ready to meet in a meaningful way, we’re not interested.”

He also stated that there was currently no blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait or the Red Sea, despite the fact that at least five commercial ships appeared to be returning from this vital shipping chokepoint in the Middle East, under threat from Iran’s powerful allies in Yemen, the Houthi rebels.

The Houthis announced on Monday that they would prevent Saudi ships and ships carrying Saudi energy products from using Bab el-Mandeb, which serves as the southern gateway to the Red Sea.

Source: KYPE