Agency Report
President Donald Trump told Axios he will not lift a naval blockade of Iran’s ports until he secures a deal with Tehran to address the country’s nuclear program, extending a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz that has caused a global energy crisis.
“The blockade is somewhat more effective than the bombing. They are choking like a stuffed pig. And it is going to be worse for them. They can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said in a phone interview Wednesday, according to Axios.
Trump said he had rejected a recent proposal from Iran to reopen the strait but that would have delayed talks on the nuclear issue until later.
The blockade lies at the heart of the impasse between the U.S. and Iran, with the Islamic Republic insisting it won’t restart negotiations or reopen the strait as long as the naval restrictions stay in place. Trump says he won’t halt the operation until Iran agrees on a peace deal to end a war that, while now in a ceasefire, began more than two months ago, causing chaos across the Middle East and energy prices to surge.
While Trump said he’d stick with the blockade, U.S. military commanders have prepared a plan for a short and powerful wave of strikes on Iran to raise pressure on the regime, Axios said, citing people with knowledge of the preparations.
With the strait now effectively shut for two months and little sign of it opening soon, oil prices continue to rise. Brent crude futures climbed around in London to around $119 a barrel.
It’s unclear how much storage and time Iran has left before it would need to close down wells, which may damage them permanently. Analytics firm Kpler estimates it has another 12 to 22 days.
Iranian officials showed no sign of backing down.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Wednesday accused Trump of seeking to force Iran to surrender through economic pressure and internal divisions, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
“Trump explicitly divides the country into hardliners and moderates and then immediately talks about a naval blockade to force Iran to surrender through economic pressure and internal divisions,” Ghalibaf said in an audio message addressed to Iranians. The only solution to “counter the enemy” is national unity, he added.
Trump has claimed that divisions within the Iranian regime have slowed decision-making. U.S. and Israeli attacks have killed many of the country’s top leaders.
On Tuesday, Trump discussed prolonging the blockade in a meeting with oil and trading industry executives. The meeting, described by a White House official, included representatives of Chevron Corp. as well as trading houses Trafigura Group, Vitol Group and Mercuria Energy Group Ltd.
Participants in that meeting discussed ways the Trump administration could keep up its blockade of Iranian ports, if needed, while minimizing impact on American consumers, the White House official said. Axios reported the meeting earlier Wednesday.
Trump administration officials have repeatedly said oil and gasoline prices will fall after the war ends. But climbing commodities prices weigh heavily on the administration ahead of the November midterm elections that will determine whether Trump’s Republican Party maintains control of Congress.
A lengthier disruption of shipping through the strait—and the supply of oil in world markets—is expected to push prices even higher