President Donald Trump said Friday that the US will retrieve Iran's nuclear dust using excavators in an operation with Tehran, as he declared the Strait of Hormuz effectively open.

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

On retrieving Iran's nuclear dust, he said: "The USA will get all nuclear dust."

While implying the risks, he said, "We're going to take it anyway, but taking it, taking it that way, is slightly more dangerous, but we're going to get it anyway."

"We're going to get it by going in with Iran, with lots of excavators," he added.

Trump confirmed that Iran, with US assistance, "has removed, or is removing, all of the sea mines" from the strait.

Turning to NATO, Trump claimed that NATO offered to help with the Iran war and said, "Now that the Hormuz Strait situation is almost over, I received a call from NATO, asking if we would like some help. But now I really don't want your help anymore, because they were absolutely useless when we needed them."

"But actually, we never needed them. They needed us," he said. (AA)

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