Trump repeats confidence in striking deal with Iran to end war
It comes hours after the President warned that if a deal with Iran was not agreed, bombing would resume at "a much higher level and intensity than it was before"
US forces have struck an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman amid its ongoing blockade of ports.
Picture:
Getty/US Navy
US forces have struck an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman amid its ongoing blockade of ports. US Central Command posted on social media that the tanker, called the M/T Hasna, was trying to circumvent the blockade of Iranian ports.The post claimed that after warnings, it shot and disabled the vessel with a cannon gun on a naval jet."Hasna is no longer transiting to Iran," they wrote. "The US blockade against ships attempting to enter or depart Iranian ports remains in full effect."The latest military action came shortly before President Trump claimed that the Iranian regime will "end up agreeing" to a peace deal with the US.Read More: Oil prices plunge and stock markets rise as Iran announces ’safe, stable’ passage through Strait of Hormuz - as ‘peace deal’ in sightRead More: Trump threatens to restart bombing of Iran at a 'much higher level and intensity' if it fails to reopen Strait of Hormuz
Donald Trump claimed the Iranians would "end up agreeing" to a deal to end the war.
Picture:
Getty
The US President likened the naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz to "a wall of steel", and said the Iranians were " not getting anything through one way or the other, so they’re out of business.“We’ll see whether or not they are agreeing, and if they don’t agree, they’ll end up agreeing shortly thereafter," he added. Mr Trump made the remarks at a military mother’s day event at the White House, a day after he announced a pause on the short-lived US 'Project Freedom' to guide shifts through the Strait of Hormuz to see if an agreement could be reached. Read more: Oil prices plunge and stock markets rise as Iran announces ’safe, stable’ passage through Strait of Hormuz - as ‘peace deal’ in sightRead more: Trump threatens to restart bombing of Iran at a 'much higher level and intensity' if it fails to reopen Strait of Hormuz
On Tuesday Mr Trump suspended a short-lived project to shepherd cargo vessels through the Strait of Hormuz .
Picture:
Alamy
Hours later, Mr Trump said threateningly on Wednesday morning that if a deal with Iran was not agreed, bombing would resume at "a much higher level and intensity than it was before".Speaking again on Wednesday just after 1 pm EST (6 pm GST), the US President played down the Iran conflict as a "skirmish" as he insisted Tehran wanted to make a deal to end the war.He said: “I call it a skirmish, because that’s what it is. It’s a skirmish, and we’re doing unbelievably well.”He added: “We’re doing very well in Iran. It’s going very smoothly, and we’ll see what happens. They want to make a deal, they want to negotiate, and I think that military mothers would want to hear that.”Insisting the US had “the greatest military in the world by far”, Mr Trump said: “The world is watching us as we do our thing. We have the respect of the world, which we didn’t have two years ago. We were a laughing stock all over the world.”
It comes one day after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed the offensive stage of the Iran war is "over".Rubio insisted the White House was taking defensive action in enforcing its blockade of Iranian ports, and said the initial military operation against Iran was over.The closure of the strait has sent fuel prices skyrocketing and rattled the global economy.
Trump announced the creation of Project Freedom on Sunday, but last night said he would be pausing the operation after a after a cargo ship was hit by a projectile in the key maritime route.In a bid to break Iran’s stranglehold, the operation was launched to create an "enhanced security area" along the strait, aimed at enabling shipping to get through and releasing more than 1,500 vessels trapped by the conflict.He claimed the pause was in order "to see whether or not" a peace deal can be finalised with Iran.While this has sparked fresh attacks by Tehran, the US insists it falls “below the threshold” for resuming hostilities and the existing ceasefire still holds.The current peace deal appeared to be hanging by a thread on Tuesday after Defence Chief Pete Hegseth said Iran would face "the overwhelming and devastating firepower" of the US military if it decides to attack American troops or ships.Drones and missiles were also launched from Iran and intercepted by US forces on Monday.
