Washington, Aug 10 (IANS) US President Donald Trump said that “we are only semi-negotiating” with Iran, noting that he is prepared to allow economic pressure on Iran to mount — as opposed to ordering a new military offensive, Axios reported.
“We are low keying it,” Trump told Axios during a brief phone call, arguing that Iran “is in very bad shape” economically.
The report noted that an agreement governing traffic in the Strait of Hormuz was negotiated among Iran, Oman and the United States and “has been pending for a few days now.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Saturday that Iran and Oman are “very close” to an agreement on the designation of a temporary route for maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, Xinhua reported quoting Iran’s official news agency IRNA.
Araghchi said on Sunday that the resumption of negotiations between Iran and the United States would not be possible unless the latter ends its violation of the MoU recently signed between the two countries.
Araghchi made the remarks while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Tehran, stressing that no negotiations are currently underway between the two sides.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said that Iran will be “hit very hard” if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened “very soon.”
In an interview with Fox News, Trump said the United States is “having very good discussions” with Iran. But Tehran denied it is having any talks with Washington.
Trump earlier warned that he was giving Iran a “last chance before decapitation”, he said that they were talking about opening the Strait of Hormuz “literally by tomorrow”.
“I mean they’re going to go quickly, one way or the other. It’s not very complex”, he said on Monday at the Oval Office.
“We’re talking about the Strait, the opening of the Strait, having it open, literally by tomorrow”, he said, but Iran has denied there were any talks with the US.
The contradictory claims leave the gateway to the world for 20 per cent of fossil fuels trapped in uncertainty.
–IANS
rs/
