AA / Canada / Merve Aydogan

President Donald Trump declared on Friday that the United States would recover Iranian “nuclear dust” with excavators as part of an operation with Tehran, while stating that the Strait of Hormuz was now effectively open.

“This will be a great and shining day for the world, as Iran has just announced that the Strait of Hormuz is fully open, ready for business and for passengers,” Trump told a crowd at an event in Phoenix, Arizona.

Regarding the recovery of Iranian “nuclear dust,” he stated: “The United States will recover all of the nuclear dust.”

Addressing the risks, he added: “We will recover it no matter what, but recovering it this way is slightly more dangerous; however, we will get it anyway.”

“We will recover it by intervening with Iran, with a lot of excavators,” he emphasized.

Trump confirmed that Iran, with the help of the United States, “has removed, or is in the process of removing, all naval mines” from the strait.

Discussing NATO, Trump claimed that the alliance had offered its help in the war against Iran and stated: “Now that the situation in the Strait of Hormuz is almost over, I received a call from NATO, asking if we wanted help. But now, I really don’t need your help anymore, because they were absolutely useless when we needed them.”

“But in reality, we never needed them. They were the ones who needed us,” he concluded.

*Translated from English by Ayse Bashoruz