British Prime Minister Theresa May insisted that while the United States and the United Kingdom are aligned on the necessity to confront Iran‘s destabilizing activities across the Middle East, ‘Washington and London continue to differ on the means of achieving that goal.’
During a joint press conference with visiting U.S. President Donald Trump, the British premier emphasized that the primary goal remains: “to ensure Tehran cannot acquire a nuclear weapon.” According to the U.K. Prime Minister: “Today we’ve discussed again the importance of our two nations working together to address Iran’s destabilizing activity in the region, and to ensure Tehran cannot acquire a nuclear weapon, although we differ on the means of achieving that as I’ve said before the UK continues to stand by the nuclear deal. It is clear that we both want to reach the same goal.”
President Trump – who reiterated on several occasions his hope of finding a way to the negotiating table with the Islamic Republic, in an apparent keen desire to avert prospects of a looming military conflagration – underscored the joint Western determination to ensure Iran never develops nuclear weapons, and to force the Ayatollah regime to stop its terror-related activities. “Among the pressing threats facing our nations is the development and spread of nuclear weapons. Perhaps that’s our greatest threat. The United States and the United Kingdom are determined to ensure that Iran never develops nuclear weapons and stops supporting and engaging in terrorism,” said President Trump.
The American leader concluded a three day visit to the United Kingdom, after joining world leaders today – including British Prime Minister Theresa May, Queen Elisabeth the Second – for the 75th commemoration of D-Day in the southern English city of Portsmouth.
Meanwhile in Tehran, the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei insisted that the United States in particular, and the West in General, would “never succeed” in curtailing Iran’s ballistic missile program. In an address to a group of his followers, the Iranian Supreme Leader also rebuked President Donald Trump’s offer of negotiations, claiming it to be a sign of deterred weakness. Ali Khamenei said: “We can see that today, in the defense and military arena, we have reached a point of being able to deter our enemies. And the fact that you see they insist on (curtailing) our missile program, is because of this (deterrence). And they want to deprive us of this capability. And of course, they will never succeed.”
The speech was broadcast live on Iranian state television, including the crowd’s reaction, which chanted in unison: “Death to America, Death to the United Kingdom and Death to Israel.”