A US blockade of Iran’s ports has come into effect, with US President, Donald Trump warning in a social media post that any Iranian “fast attack ships” caught trying to approach the blockade “will be immediately ELIMINATED”
Speaking at the White House, Trump said Iran wants a deal “very badly” and he was called this morning “by the appropriate people” seeking an agreement
Trump is asked about the naval blockade of Iran, which came into force just shy of three hours ago.
He said that Iran is “really blackmailing the world”, and he won’t let that happen.
The US doesn’t use the Strait of Hormuz, he said, because it has its own oil and gas, adding that ships are heading to the US to “load up” on American oil.
Trump added that Iranian leaders want to make a deal, and said he was called in the morning by “by the appropriate people” seeking an agreement.
Meanwhile, in an interview with BBC Radio 4 today, Abas Aslani, a senior fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies in Tehran, was asked how Iran saw the US blockade.
Aslani said Iran sees the US blockade as its attempt to “create leverage in order to get more compromises from Tehran at the negotiating table”.
Aslani added that the US is trying to adopt a similar tactic to one it used in Venezuela, but what makes Iran’s strategy different is that if “Iranian vessels or tankers are targeted or stopped, Iran will respond in kind”.
