Trump Says The U.S. Agreed To Continue Talks With Iran, But The Ceasefire Won’t Resume
President Donald Trump said Iran has asked to continue negotiations and he has agreed, but clarified that the ceasefire is over.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue “talks.” We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!” Trump said in a social media publication.
The countries exchanged strikes earlier this week after Tehran targeted commercial ships in the key waterway, leading to retaliatory strikes from Washington and responses from Tehran, which targeted Gulf countries.
Trump said he doesn’t “know” whether the U.S. and Iran are set to go back to a full-scale war, but claimed Tehran “badly” wants to deescalate the renewed hostilities.
Speaking to press aboard Air Force one while returning to the U.S. this week, he said that should such a scenario take place, the U.S. would “win it very quickly.”
“They have very little left, and they want to make a deal so badly. They called a little while ago. They want to make a deal so badly. I just don’t know if they’re worthy of making a deal. I don’t know that they’re going to honor the deal. That’s the problem,” he added.
In this context, traffic through the strait decreased again, new data shows. Matt Smith, director of commodity research at the trade intelligence firm Kpler, told CNBC that only 13 ships crossed the waterway on Wednesday, compared to an average of 33 per day over the previous week.
The Joint Maritime Information Center again raised the threat level in the Strait of Hormuz to severe after clashes resumed.
It is the second-highest level in the NGO’s scale, only behind critical. It had been lowered to substantial after the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding to end the war and kick off nuclear negotiations.
The organization said vessels could face “deliberate hostile action” by Iran under current conditions. Tehran this week launched missiles at ships crossing the waterway through a route closer to the Omani coast, which does not approve of and is protected by the U.S. Navy. The country insists it’s in control of the strait following the war with the U.S. and only ships that coordinate with its authorities.
Elsewhere, a new report claimed that Israel recently alerted the U.S. that Iran had devised a new plan to assassinate Trump.
CNN detailed that the warning took place this week. One source told the outlet that the U.S. had picked up intelligence about potential plans to target the president, but Israel provided new information about a specific plot.
However, other officials claimed that the intelligence could be aimed at convincing Trump to make a decision related to the war in Iran.
