As the US-Iran conflict drags on for more than six months, Middle East tensions remain high. Amid this, US President Donald Trump has said that Tehran is ready to open the strategic waterway, the Strait of Hormuz, asserting "they have no money coming in."
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Trump said, "And what they want to do is immediately open the Hormuz Strait. You know why? Because they're dying. You know why they're dying? Because they have no money coming in, because they get their money from the Hormuz Strait."
He added: “So they outsmarted themselves. They said, 'Let's close it and cause a problem for the world.' And then I came along, and we put up the greatest blockade ever in military history. It's a wall of steel, and we put it up, and guess what? They don't have any money now, because they wanted to close the strait, and I said, 'That's fine. We're going to close it on you, but everybody else is able to use it'.”
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{{/usCountry}}Trump earlier said he rejected a deal from Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, according to Bloomberg. "They made a proposal, but I rejected it," Trump said as he departed the White House.
“They want to make a deal where they open the strait immediately because they’re losing so badly,” he said.
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US and Iranian negotiators had been exploring a deal that would see the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and Washington lift its blockade of Iranian ports, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US President expects to resume the US bombing campaign against Iran after US midterm elections.
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Strait of Hormuz tensions amid Iran war
The US has imposed an economic blockade on Iran to put pressure on Tehran to stop Iranian attacks on vessels in the strait, Reuters reported.
According to the report, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi told reporters at the United Nations on Friday that the proposed deal would lead to a seven-day countdown to reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
(with inputs from agencies)