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‘Big boats of oil’: Trump claims Iran allowed transit of 10 Pakistan-flagged tankers as ‘present’ to US
Trump had, earlier this week, said Iran had given America a “gift” related to oil and gas and the “flow of the Strait.”
United States President Donald Trump on Thursday claimed that Iran had allowed the passage of 10 oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz as a “present” amid negotiations.
Trump had, earlier this week, said Iran had given America a “gift” related to oil and gas and the “flow of the Strait.” Trump on Thursday held a cabinet meeting focused specifically on the conflict in Middle East.
“We have very substantial talks going on with respect to Iran…They said, 'To show you the fact that we're real and solid and we're there, we're going to let you have eight boats of oil, eight boats,” Trump claimed.
The US President said that this happened two days ago, claiming that the boats would “sail up tomorrow”. He said an anchor on Fox had first reported that “something unusual was happening.”
“There were eight boats going right up the middle of the Strait of Hormuz, eight big tankers loaded with oil. I said, 'Well, I guess we're dealing with the right people'. And they were real. And I think they were Pakistani-flagged,” Trump stated.
He further claimed that Iran had also “apologised for something they said”, and had promised to send “two more boats.” “It ended up being ten boats. And I hope I haven't screwed up your negotiations, but I thought it was appropriate to say, because I did talk to you the other day about them giving us a present,” the US President added.
Trump was referring to the cryptic remarks he made two days earlier about a “gift” by Iran, which he said was related to oil and gas and the Strait of Hormuz. The strait is a key chokepoint for the global energy trade, with Iran effectively blocking or slowing down shipping through the strait, disrupting energy supplies across the world.
