US president hits out as states bordering the Strait of Hormuz continue talks on managing the strategic waterway.
President Donald Trump has asserted that the United States is not engaged in talks with Iran and has not scheduled any, but has meanwhile insisted that the Strait of Hormuz remains open.
The US leader insisted in a social media post on Tuesday that while the naval blockade of Iranian ports remains “in full force and effect”, all other marine traffic was free to pass. He also posted a map depicting the strategic waterway as US territory.
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The comments represent Trump’s latest about-face. On Monday, he had claimed that the US was engaged in back-channel conversations with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Tehran was quick to reject that claim.
Tuesday’s remarks appear to reflect Trump’s frustration, as Iran and Oman, countries that border Hormuz, continue talks on managing the strait, despite the US president’s demand for Iran to surrender and his threat to bomb Oman should it interfere in the issue.
“There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated,” Trump posted.
Iran has reiterated that Hormuz would remain closed until Washington met the terms of the pair’s memorandum of understanding (MoU) that was signed in June with the aim of ending the hostilities that began in March.
Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, appeared to respond to Trump’s post.
“Just as Trump correctly wrote the name of the eternal Persian Gulf, soon his delusion regarding the Strait of Hormuz will either be corrected or we will correct the delusions of this deluded man,” Gharibabadi wrote on social media.
Meanwhile, mediators continue to try to revive negotiations. Qatar said on Tuesday that mediators are awaiting the expected Iran-Oman deal before pushing Washington and Tehran to resume talks.
A US official told Al Jazeera that “positive talks” with Iran have been ongoing, but that Trump has now “decided to wait” and instructed his negotiating team to hold off until Tehran is “ready to make a deal”.
There is “no conflict” in the US administration’s position regarding talks with Iran, the official insisted.
Apparently reflecting his latest change of tack, the US president posted an image on his Truth Social platform showing a map of the Strait of Hormuz captioned “New US Territory”, a repetition of his threat last week to declare the strait as such after Iran’s “surrender”.
Top Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, meanwhile, said in comments published by state media on Tuesday that the Strait would remain shut until the US met the conditions of the MoU.
Those conditions include the US lifting its blockade of Iranian ports, lifting oil sanctions, releasing Tehran’s frozen assets, and ending threats and military operations on all fronts, Ghalibaf told parliament.
Regional strikes continue
The rhetoric emerging on both sides illustrates that outward progress towards peace talks and the return of maritime traffic through Hormuz has ground to a halt, threatening to extend the conflict.
To that end, a missile threat alert was issued by the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday evening, as the country’s Defence Ministry said its air defences “detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran”. Both projectiles were reported to have landed in the sea.
The ministry added that it was on high alert and “fully prepared” to deal with any threats, it said in a statement published on X.
Earlier on Tuesday, eight air strikes hit the Abu al-Duhur military base in Idlib’s eastern countryside, causing damage and no casualties, Syrian state media reported.
States including the US have accused Israel of launching the strikes. US special envoy for Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack said it was “an unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability”.
