Washington, September 8, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
US President Donald Trump has vowed that Iran will never be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon, saying Tehran had been “punished greatly” and praising the US military for what he described as an effective blockade.
Trump made the remarks on Tuesday at the Steel Across America event in Washington, attended by first responders, military personnel and relatives of victims ahead of the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“We’re right now fighting because we have a certain nation that wanted a nuclear weapon,” Trump said, claiming Iran had been close to obtaining one but now had “no chance” of doing so.
“Iran will not have a nuclear weapon and they’ve been punished greatly,” he added.
Trump did not provide further details about US operations against Iran but praised the American military, saying the blockade had performed better than expected.
Most of his address focused on the nearly 3,000 people killed in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and United Airlines Flight 93.
“We will never forget those we lost, and we will never forget the immortal heroes of September 11th, 2001,” Trump said.
The ceremony featured a 16,000-pound steel beam recovered from the wreckage of the World Trade Center’s South Tower. The beam has been transported across the US as a reminder of the attacks and the efforts of first responders.
Trump recalled visiting the devastation in New York with members of his construction crew and praised firefighters, police officers, military personnel, construction workers and demolition experts involved in the rescue and recovery operations.
He also announced that a new US Coast Guard fast response cutter would be named after Jeffrey Palazzo, a New York firefighter and Coast Guard reservist who died while attempting to rescue people at the World Trade Center.
Trump separately posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian honour, to Welles Crowther, a 24-year-old equities trader and volunteer firefighter known as “the man in the red bandana”.
Crowther repeatedly entered dangerous sections of the South Tower to help injured and trapped people reach a surviving stairwell before he was killed when the building collapsed.
Crowther’s mother, Alison, accepted the honour alongside his sister Paige and thanked Trump for recognising her son’s actions.
The September 11 attacks were carried out by 19 al-Qaida hijackers. The attacks led to the US military intervention in Afghanistan and major changes to American national security, intelligence and aviation policies.
Crowther was identified after survivors independently recalled being guided to safety by a man wearing a red bandana. His actions have since been commemorated through educational and charitable initiatives focused on courage, compassion and public service.
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