Washington (Monitoring Desk): Former US President Barack Obama has criticised President Donald Trump’s justification for launching a war against Iran, saying that Iran did not possess nuclear weapons and that its nuclear programme could have been restricted through diplomacy.
According to Al Jazeera, Obama referred to the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, saying the deal imposed restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear programme. He said he had chosen the path of diplomacy rather than launching missiles.
The former US president expressed concern over the consequences of the war, saying that US allies and military bases had come under attack, several Americans had been killed and hundreds injured, while the country’s missile stockpiles had also declined.
According to Obama, these circumstances have made the United States less secure than before. He claimed that Iran’s influence over the Strait of Hormuz had increased, giving it something akin to veto power over affairs involving the vital waterway.
He described the situation in the Strait of Hormuz as one of the factors behind rising oil prices, warning that tensions along this crucial maritime route could affect global energy markets.