>> RICHARD, WE’LL HAVE TO MOVE BACK TO THE WHITE HOUSE.
THE PRESIDENT NOW AT THE PODIUM.
>> AS LONG AS I AM PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES, IRAN WILL
NEVER BE ALLOWED TO HAVE A
NUCLEAR WEAPON.
NUCLEAR WEAPON. GOOD MORNING.
GOOD MORNING. I’M PLEASED TO INFORM YOU, THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE SHOULD BE
EXTREMELY GRATEFUL AND HAPPY.
NO AMERICANS WERE HARMED IN LAST
NIGHT’S ATTACK BY THE IRANIAN
REGIME.
REGIME. WE SUFFERED NO CASUALTIES.
ALL OF OUR SOLDIERS ARE SAFE.
ONLY MINIMAL DAMAGE WAS
SUSTAINED AT OUR MILITARY BASES.
OUR GREAT AMERICAN FORCES ARE
PREPARED FOR ANYTHING.
IRAN APPEARS TO BE STANDING
DOWN, WHICH IS A GOOD THING FOR
ALL PARTIES CONCERNED, AND A
VERY GOOD THING FOR THE WORLD.
NO AMERICAN OR IRAQI LIVES WERE
LOST BECAUSE OF THE PRECAUTIONS
TAKEN TO DISPERSE ALL THE FORCES
AND AN EARLY WARNING SYSTEM THAT
WORKED VERY WELL.
I SALUTE THE INCREDIBLE SKILL
AND COURAGE OF AMERICA’S MEN AND
WOMEN IN UNIFORM.
FOR FAR TOO LONG, ALL THE WAY
BACK TO 1979 TO BE EXACT,
NATIONS HAVE TOLERATED IRAN’S
DESTRUCTIVE AND DESTABILIZING
BEHAVIOR IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND
BEYOND.
BEYOND. THOSE DAYS ARE OVER.
IRAN HAS BEEN THE LEADING
SPONSOR OF TERRORISM, AND THEIR
PURSUIT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
THREATENS THE CIVILIZED WORLD.
WE WILL NEVER LET THAT HAPPEN.
LAST WOKE, WE TOOK DECISIVE
ACTION TO STOP A RUTHLESS
TERRORIST FROM THREATENING
AMERICAN LIVES.
AMERICAN LIVES. AT MY DIRECTION, THE UNITED
STATES MILITARY ELIMINATED THE
WORLD’S TOP TERRORIST, QASSEM
SOLEIMANI.
SOLEIMANI. AS THE HEAD OF THE QUDS FORCE,
SOLEIMANI WAS PERSONALLY
RESPONSIBLE FOR SOME OF THE
ABSOLUTELY WORST ATROCITIES.
HE TRAINED TERRORIST ARMIES,
INCLUDING HEZBOLLAH, LAUNCHING
TERRORIST STRIKES AGAINST
CIVILIAN TARGETS.
CIVILIAN TARGETS. HE FUELED BLOODY CIVIL WARS ALL
ACROSS THE REGION.
HE VICIOUSLY WOUNDED AND
MURDERED THOUSANDS OF U.S. TROOP
TROOPS, INCLUDING THE PLANTING
OF ROADSIDE BOMBS THAT MAIM AND
DISMEMBER THEIR VICTIMS.
SOLEIMANI DIRECTED THE RECENT
ATTACKS ON U.S. PERSONNEL IN
IRAQ THAT BADLY WOUNDED FOUR
SERVICE MEMBERS AND KILLED ONE
AMERICAN.
AMERICAN. HE ORCHESTRATED THE VIOLENT
ASSAULT ON THE U.S. EMBASSY IN
BAGHDAD.
BAGHDAD. IN RECENT DAYS, HE WAS PLANNING
NEW ATTACKS ON AMERICAN TARGETS,
BUT WE STOPPED HIM.
SOLEIMANI’S HANDS WERE DRENCHED
IN BOTH AMERICAN AND IRANIAN
BLOOD.
BLOOD. HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN TERMINATED
LONG AGO.
LONG AGO. BY REMOVING SOLEIMANI, WE HAVE
SENT A POWERFUL MESSAGE TO
TERRORISTS.
TERRORISTS. IF YOU VALUE YOUR OWN LIFE, YOU
WILL NOT THREATEN THE LIVES OF
OUR PEOPLE.
OUR PEOPLE. AS WE CONTINUE TO EVALUATE
OPTIONS IN RESPONSE TO IRANIAN
AGGRESSION, THE UNITED STATES
WILL IMMEDIATELY IMPOSE
ADDITIONAL PUNISHING ECONOMIC
SANCTIONS ON THE IRANIAN REGIME.
THESE POWERFUL SANCTIONS WILL
REMAIN UNTIL IRAN CHANGES ITS
BEHAVIOR.
BEHAVIOR. IN RECENT MONTHS ALONE, IRAN HAS
SEIZED SHIPS IN INTERNATIONAL
WATERS, FIRED AN UNPROVOKED
STRIKE ON SAUDI ARABIA, AND SHOT
DOWN TWO U.S. DRONES.
IRAN’S HOSTILITIES SUBSTANTIALLY
INCREASED AFTER THE FOOLISH IRAN
NUCLEAR DEAL WAS SIGNED IN 2013.
THEY WERE GIVEN $150 BILLION,
NOT TO MENTION $1.8 BILLION IN
CASH.
CASH. INSTEAD OF SAYING "THANK YOU" TO
THE UNITED STATES, THEY CHANTED
"DEATH TO AMERICA."
IN FACT, THEY CHANTED "DEATH TO
AMERICA" THE DAY THE AGREEMENT
WAS SIGNED.
WAS SIGNED. THEN IRAN WENT ON A TERROR
SPREE, FUNDED BY THE MONEY FROM
THE DEAL, AND CREATED HELL IN
YEMEN, SYRIA, LEBANON,
AFGHANISTAN, AND IRAQ.
THE MISSILES FIRED LAST NIGHT AT
US AND OUR ALLIES WERE PAID FOR
WITH THE FUNDS MADE AVAILABLE BY
THE LAST ADMINISTRATION.
THE REGIME ALSO GREATLY
TIGHTENED THE REINS ON THEIR OWN
COUNTRY, EVEN RECENTLY KILLING
1,500 PEOPLE AT THE MANY
PROTESTS THAT ARE TAKING PLACE
ALL THROUGHOUT IRAN.
THE VERY DEFECTIVE JCPOA EXPIRES
SHORTLY ANYWAY AND GIVES IRAN A
CLEAR AND QUICK PATH TO NUCLEAR
BREAKOUT.
BREAKOUT. IRAN MUST ABANDON ITS NUCLEAR
AMBITIONS AND END ITS SUPPORT
FOR TERRORISM.
FOR TERRORISM. THE TIME HAS COME FOR THE UNITED
KINGDOM, GERMANY, FRANCE,
RUSSIA, AND CHINA TO RECOGNIZE
THIS REALITY.
THIS REALITY. THEY MUST NOW BREAKAWAY FROM THE
REMNANTS OF THE IRAN DEAL, OR
JCPOA.
JCPOA. WE MUST ALL WORK TOGETHER TOWARD
MAKING A DEAL WITH IRAN THAT
MAKES THE WORLD A SAFER AND MORE
PEACEFUL PLACE.
PEACEFUL PLACE. WE MUST ALSO MAKE A DEAL THAT
ALLOWS IRAN TO THRIVE AND
PROSPER AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF
ITS ENORMOUS, UNTAPPED
POTENTIAL.
POTENTIAL. IRAN CAN BE A GREAT COUNTRY.
PEACE AND STABILITY CANNOT
PREVAIL IN THE MIDDLE EAST AS
LONG AS IRAN CONTINUES TO FOMENT
VIOLENCE, UNREST, HATRED, AND
WAR.
WAR. THE CIVILIZED WORLD MUST SEND A
CLEAR AND UNIFIED MESSAGE TO THE
IRANIAN REGIME.
IRANIAN REGIME. YOUR CAMPAIGN OF TERROR, MURDER,
MAYHEM, WILL NOT BE TOLERATED
ANY LONGER.
ANY LONGER. IT WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO GO
FORWARD.
FORWARD. TODAY, I AM GOING TO ASK NATO TO
BECOME MUCH MORE INVOLVED IN THE
MIDDLE EAST PROCESS.
OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS, UNDER
MY LEADERSHIP, OUR ECONOMY IS
STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE, AND
AMERICA HAS ACHIEVED ENERGY
INDEPENDENCE.
INDEPENDENCE. THESE HISTORIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS
CHANGED OUR STRATEGIC PRYOR TIS.
THESE ARE ACCOMPLISHMENTS NOBODY
THOUGHT WERE POSSIBLE.
AND OPTIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
BECAME AVAILABLE.
BECAME AVAILABLE. WE ARE NOW THE NUMBER ONE
PRODUCER OF OIL AND NATURAL GAS
ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.
WE ARE INDEPENDENT, AND WE DO
NOT NEED MIDDLE EAST OIL.
THE AMERICAN MILITARY HAS BEEN
COMPLETELY REBUILT UNDER MY
ADMINISTRATION AT A COST OF $2.5
TRILLION.
TRILLION. U.S. ARMED FORCES ARE STRONGER
THAN EVER BEFORE.
OUR MISSILES ARE BIG, POWERFUL,
ACCURATE, LETHAL, AND FAST.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION ARE MANY
HYPERSONIC MISSILES.
HYPERSONIC MISSILES. THE FACT THAT WE HAVE THIS GREAT
MILITARY AND EQUIPMENT, HOWEVER,
DOES NOT MEAN WE HAVE TO USE IT.
WE DO NOT WANT TO USE IT.
AMERICAN STRENGTH, BOTH MILITARY
AND ECONOMIC, IS THE BEST
DETERRENT.
DETERRENT. THREE MONTHS AGO, AFTER
DESTROYING 100% OF ISIS AND ITS
TERRITORIAL CALIPHATE, WE KILLED
THE SAVAGE LEADER OF ISIS, AL
BAGHDADI, WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE
FOR SO MUCH DEATH, INCLUDING THE
BEHEADINGS OF CHRISTIANS,
MUSLIMS, AND ALL WHO STOOD IN
HIS WAY.
HIS WAY. HE WAS A MONSTER.
AL BAGHDADI WAS TRYING AGAIN TO
REBUILD THE ISIS CALIPHATE AND
FAILED.
FAILED. TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ISIS
FIGHTERS HAVE BEEN KILLED OR
CAPTURED DURING MY
ADMINISTRATION.
ADMINISTRATION. ISIS IS A NATURAL ENEMY OF IRAN.
THE DESTRUCTION OF ISIS IS GOOD
FOR IRAN.
FOR IRAN. WE SHOULD WORK TOGETHER ON THIS
AND OTHER SHARED PRIORITIES.
FINALLY, TO THE PEOPLE AND
LEADERS OF IRAN, WE WANT YOU TO
HAVE A FUTURE AND A GREAT
FUTURE, ONE THAT YOU DESERVE.
ONE OF PROSPER THEITY AT HOME AN
HARMONY WITH THE NATIONS OF THE
WORLD.
WORLD. THE UNITED STATES IS READY TO
EMBRACE PEACE WITH ALL WHO SEEK