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Trump extends Iran fight
U.S. President Donald Trump told Al Jazeera that the confrontation with Iran “will continue whatever it takes” and that there is “no timetable” to return to negotiations.
“will continue whatever it takes”
Trump said the U.S. is “achieving a very big victory” while he argued that “the Iranians are suffering from massive inflation and their economy is collapsing,” and he added that he believes both economic warfare and military strikes are effective.
He also framed the core dispute as preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, saying, “The core of the matter, 99.9%, is that we cannot allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon; they are crazy.”
On the maritime front, Trump repeated that the U.S. military destroyed the Iranian navy and said U.S. forces killed 22 Iranian boats last night, while insisting the Strait of Hormuz is “open and many ships pass through it daily and oil flows from it.”
Diplomacy, sanctions, and mines
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told President Trump recently that a diplomatic deal with Iran is “not possible,” calling the Islamic Republic leadership “savages.”
Iran and Oman said Tuesday they were discussing a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz via a temporary shipping route, as well as a plan to clear sea mines, while Tehran insisted the U.S. must lift its naval blockade and the war must end before ships resume transiting the waterway.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi wrote to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres asking the U.N. to “condemn and reject” U.S. actions, including new sanctions issued this week.
Araghchi warned that “either we must defend the principles of sovereign equality, non-interference, and respect for the sovereign rights of States” or “we surrender to the unilateralism and bullying of a rogue state,” and he asked the U.N. to monitor humanitarian implications of the sanctions on the Iranian population.
Hormuz talks hinge on U.S.
Iran’s IRGC spokesman Brig. Gen. Hossein Mohebbi said Iranian and Omani officials reached an agreement weeks ago on terms to control shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and share proceeds from fees incurred.
“the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed”
Mohebbi said, “If the United States stops obstructing and returns to the memorandum of understanding, we can open the Strait of Hormuz within the framework of the agreement reached,” and he stressed, “our conditions must be accepted by the United States.”
He added that “the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed” until those conditions are accepted by Washington, while the Al Jazeera report also described diplomacy intensifying alongside a temporary route agreed in the Strait of Hormuz.
In parallel, the Al Jazeera account said Trump posted “Mission Accomplished 2026” while Democrats criticized his claim, with Senator Chuck Schumer calling the president “delusional” for saying he has won anything in the Iran fight.