President Donald Trump claimed Iran wants the Strait of Hormuz to be opened immediately and its public remarks about keeping the shipping way closed were simply a bid to “save face,” in a social media post made hours after he indefinitely extended a ceasefire with the country as the second round of peace talks between the two countries remained on hold.
U.S. President Donald Trump claimed Iran's public statements about the blockade were simply a bid to "save face."
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In a post on Truth Social shortly before midnight on Tuesday, Trump claimed that Iran was “collapsing financially” and suggested that its leaders were desperate to have the Strait of Hormuz opened immediately.
The president wrote that Iran’s military and police were complaining about not getting paid, without mentioning whether this was a U.S. intelligence assessment.
Trump also suggested that Iran was losing $500 million a day as a result of the U.S. blockade of its ports, reiterating a claim he made in another post on Tuesday night.
In the earlier post, the president said Iran only says it wants the Strait of Hormuz to be closed to merely “save face” and claimed some people approached him four days ago to let him know that Tehran wants to “open up the Strait, immediately.”
Trump signaled he intends to keep the blockade in place and suggested that reversing it would prevent a deal with Iran from happening “unless we blow up the rest of their Country, their leaders included!”
Trump’s post touting the success of his blockade came just hours after he indefinitely extended a ceasefire with Iran. This was a reversal from his earlier statements that such an extension was “highly unlikely” and bombing would resume if no deal was reached soon. Trump said he agreed to the extension after a request from Pakistan’s military chief Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The president wrote that the “Government of Iran is seriously fractured,” and he has been asked to hold off strikes on the country, “until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal.” Trump, however, noted that the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf will remain in effect.
In a post on X after Trump’s ceasefire announcement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote that as a result of the U.S blockade, “In a matter of days, Kharg Island storage will be full and the fragile Iranian oil wells will be shut in.” Bessent said the blockade’s intend is to target the Iranian regime’s “primary revenue lifelines.” The post added: “The U.S. Treasury will continue to apply maximum pressure through Economic Fury to systematically degrade Tehran’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds. Any person or vessel facilitating these flows—through covert trade and finance—risks exposure to U.S. sanctions.”
Mahdi Mohammadi, a senior adviser to Iranian Parliament Speaker and key leader Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, responded to Trump’s ceasefire extension tweeting that it had no meaning as “the losing side cannot dictate terms.” He added that the continuation of the American blockade was “no different to bombardment,” and therefore it must be met with a “military response.” Mohammadi also claimed that Trump’s ceasefire extension could be a “ploy to buy time for a surprise strike.”
Trump Says Iran Ceasefire Extended Despite Calling Off Negotiations (Forbes)
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