Trump announces the date of the next negotiations and mocks Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz: “They are helping us without knowing it”
US President Donald Trump has accused Iran of violating the cease-fire agreement with Saturday's maneuvers in the Strait of Hormuz, which he says was already closed by the United States before the intervention announced by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Trump announced that his emissaries would be in the capital of Pakistan – a country that acted as a mediator – on Monday for “negotiations”.
“Iran decided to fire bullets into the Strait of Hormuz yesterday – a complete violation of our ceasefire agreement! Many of them were aimed at a French ship and a UK freighter. It wasn't pretty, was it? My representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan – They will be there tomorrow night for negotiations,” the US leader said on Sunday in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Iran is losing “$500 million a day,” Trump claims
Donald Trump claims that the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial route for global oil supplies and beyond, was closed by US forces before Iran announced a new blockade there, and that the closure is causing financial losses to Tehran, not Washington.
“Iran recently announced that they are closing the strait, which is strange because our blockade has already closed it. They are helping us unknowingly, and they are the ones losing $500 million a day by closing the passage! The United States is not losing anything. In fact, many ships are heading to the US, Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska right now to load, thanks to the IRGC, who always wants to pose as the 'tough guy'!” threatened Donald Trump.
The statement of the American president comes in the context in which the IRGC had announced that it is blocking the Strait of Hormuz again, starting from Saturday evening, because “the American enemy has not lifted the naval blockade targeting Iranian ships and ports”. The announcement came just a day after Tehran said the strait had been reopened.
On Sunday, MarineTraffic, a shipping monitor, showed that several ships that appeared to be entering the Strait of Hormuz turned back, apparently because they could not cross, according to The New York Times.
Trump, on the agreement proposed by the US: “Very fair and reasonable”
Donald Trump, who has stressed that “it's time for Iran's killing machine to stop”, said Washington was offering Tehran a “very fair and reasonable” deal, without elaborating.
“We are offering a very fair and reasonable deal, and I hope they accept it, because if they don't, the United States will take out every power plant and every bridge in Iran. No more work boy! If they don't accept the deal, it will be my honor to do what needs to be done, what should have been done to Iran by other presidents for the last 47 years,” President Donald Trump said.
Tehran threatens to close Bab al-Mandeb as well
Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior Iranian official, again threatened that Tehran's forces could block a second critical waterway, the Red Sea's Bab al-Mandeb strait, near areas of Yemen that are controlled by Houthi rebels, allies of Iran.
Iran's parliament speaker and Tehran's chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, had said on Saturday that some progress had been made in talks with the US, but that the sides were still far from a final agreement.
Any agreement, the Iranian official said, would have to be implemented step by step through mutual actions. He added that the US must “earn the trust of the Iranian people” and abandon what he described as unilateral and coercive approaches.
