Trump claims Iran president wants ceasefire, no response from Tehran
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after stepping off Air Force One on Friday at Miami International Airport.
Trump has been under growing pressure to end the war as oil prices have skyrocketed.
Photo: AP Iran hit an oil tanker off the coast of Qatar and Kuwait’s airport on Wednesday, while air strikes battered Tehran even as US President Donald Trump said he was nearly ready to wind down the war and claimed that Iran’s president wanted a ceasefire.
Iran had no immediate response to Trump’s claim on social media that “Iran’s New Regime President” was seeking a ceasefire, which Trump said would only happen once the Strait of Hormuz was “open, free, clear”.
It was not immediately clear who Trump was referring to in Iran, which still has the same president.
Trump, who is scheduled to address the nation later in the day, said he could walk away from the war in two to three weeks once he felt confident Iran would not be able to build a nuclear weapon – even if Tehran does not agree to a ceasefire.
That raised the possibility that the US could withdraw without any guarantee from Iran that it would stop bombing its Gulf Arab neighbours or release its grip on the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
A fifth of the world’s traded oil passes through the strait in peacetime and Tehran’s stranglehold, along with its strikes on energy infrastructure in the region, has caused oil prices to skyrocket, with far-reaching consequences for the global economy.
Even if the strait were to reopen quickly, some effects like higher food prices could persist for months or longer.
It is also not clear what Israel, which began bombing Iran alongside the US on February 28, would do if the US pulls out without a deal.
It also leaves open the question of what Iran might do with the highly enriched uranium still in its stockpiles.
Trump’s comments offered another mixed signal from the American leader who has offered shifting objectives for the war and repeatedly said it could be over soon while also threatening to widen the conflict.
Thousands of additional US troops are currently heading to the Middle East, and speculation abounds about the purpose of their deployment.
Just days ago, Trump warned that the US would attack Iran’s power plants if Tehran did not reopen the strait by April 6.
He has also threatened to attack Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub and possibly desalination plants.
But on Tuesday, Trump said the US “will not have anything to do with” ensuring the secur
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