Donald Trump insisted on Monday that Iran wanted to make a deal ‘very badly’ as his blockade of the Islamic regime’s own oil blockade came into force.
The US President claimed the only sticking point between the warring nations was ‘over nuclear’, claiming Iran wanted an atomic bomb so it could ‘exterminate the world’.
But he suggested once more that a deal was close, even though peace talks in Pakistan broke down in less than 24 hours on Sunday and despite fears that the ceasefire could end at ‘any moment’.
Mr Trump ordered the US navy to prevent ‘any and all ships’ using the Strait of Hormuz from 3pm on Monday in a bid to regain the initiative 45 days into the war.
Iran shut down the shipping lane through which a fifth of global oil passes following joint US-Israeli strikes that caused a worldwide economic meltdown.
Tehran allowed a handful of friendly ships through and charged them in an unofficial toll system. However, Mr Trump has now decided to block all vessels.
He said on Monday that Iran’s navy was ‘lying at the bottom of the sea’ and their last ‘fast attack ships’ will be ‘immediately ELIMINATED’ if they target his siege.
At a press conference while receiving a McDonald’s order at the Oval Office – and tipping delivery driver Sharon Simmons $100 – Mr Trump said: ‘We’ve been called by the other side, they’d like to make a deal very badly, very badly.’
He added: ‘Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. We agreed to a lot of things, but they didn’t agree to that. I think they will agree to it.’
The President said he would not let Iran ‘blackmail or extort the world’ and bragged that the US had ‘more oil and gas than Saudi Arabia’ and does not need the strait.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf lampooned his blockade on social media on Monday, posting: ‘Enjoy the current pump figures. With the so-called ‘blockade’, soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4-$5 gas.’
Iran also warned that any US ships blockading its ports would be ‘sent to the bottom of the sea’.
Despite direct talks ending on Sunday, indirect negotiations are ongoing and the two-week ceasefire in Iran appears to be holding.
One official told the Axios news website: ‘We are not in a complete deadlock… both sides are bargaining. It’s a bazaar.’
But Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the ceasefire could end ‘any moment’ because Iran broke the negotiation agreement.
He added: ‘The agreement was that they would stop the fire, and the Iranians would immediately open the strait – they did not.’
Meanwhile Israel is expanding its ground operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Beirut has signalled it will help to disarm Hezbollah and will meet counterparts from Israel in Washington on Tuesday.
But Hezbollah’s leader Naim Kassem on Monday night urged Lebanon to step down from the talks.
Sir Keir Starmer warned on Monday night the war will cause ‘untold economic damage’ as ministers braced themselves for the International Monetary Fund to downgrade Britain’s growth forecasts.
The Prime Minister said the impact already ‘visible on every petrol station forecourt’ would rapidly spread to the wider economy the longer the Strait of Hormuz remained closed.
But he rejected Tory calls to ditch Labour’s Net Zero energy plans and lift the ban on new drilling for North Sea oil and gas.
