US President Donald Trump on Monday said Iran was facing its “last chance” to reach an agreement with Washington to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the five-month-long war.
“This is a last chance for them to sign a good document,” Trump said at the Oval Office in the White House. “I want to give them every last chance before decapitation.”
He also claimed that negotiations with Tehran are “going on right now” despite Tehran’s insistence that no direct talks were under way.
“We are talking, and we’re talking at the request of Iran, backed by Saudi Arabia, backed by UAE and backed by Qatar, in particular, but others also,” he added.
Trump’s statements came hours after Iran denied that direct talks with the United States were taking place. Trump had earlier said negotiations would begin again on Monday after he suspended plans for a threatened round of heavy bombing over the weekend.
“We currently do not have negotiations with America,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said.
“The negotiations are with Oman and are focused on reaching an understanding over a path to ensure the security of shipping passage through the Strait of Hormuz.”
Trump suggested that negotiations could lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz “literally by tomorrow”, while asserting he was not “going to let” Iran charge any toll for ships passing through the maritime chokepoint.
“The first phase is the opening of the straits. The second phase will be denuclearisation, and that’ll take a little while,” he said.
Earlier on Monday, Trump termed Iranian leadership “unbelievably duplicitous” for “openly and proudly” denying that they were in talks with Washington.
“Whether Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking of a solution to a problem that they have caused, for decades,” he posted on social media.
Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which carried roughly one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies since the war started in February, has driven up energy prices and intensified global inflationary pressures.
In response, Washington implemented a maritime blockade against Iran, which was briefly suspended during a ceasefire period before being reinstated following the resumption of hostilities last month.
On Monday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it continued to “strictly enforce” the blockade against Iran.
“As of August 3, CENTCOM has redirected 44 commercial vessels, disabled two, and boarded two,” it posted on social media.
“We have total control,” Trump said. “They call it a wall of steel, the United States wall of steel.”
Last weekend, the US president suspended his plans for the “biggest attack since World War II”, after claiming that the Middle East countries and Iran had reached parameters of a deal to end the conflict.
“This would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat,” he posted on social media on Saturday.
“Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL.”
Since the beginning of the war, Trump has repeatedly threatened large-scale attacks against Iran and later called them off, pointing to diplomatic progress.
However, both sides have failed to sustain the ceasefire due to renewed clashes and a cycle of retaliatory strikes. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
