PRESIDENT Donald Trump says the United States will continue its naval blockade of Iran until a nuclear deal is reached with Tehran.
The US president told Axios on Wednesday that he does not want to end his blockade on Iranian ports, apparently rejecting the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz so that US-Iran talks could proceed.
“The blockade is somewhat more effective than the bombing. They are choking like a stuffed pig,” Trump said of Iran. “And it is going to be worse for them. They can’t have a nuclear weapon.”
Iran has set lifting the siege as a precondition for returning to the talks.
According to several media reports, Iran offered a limited deal this week that would end its own blockade on Hormuz in exchange for the end of the siege on its ports.
Trump’s comments on Wednesday indicate that he turned down the Iranian proposal.
The US president has been emphasising that he is comfortable with the status quo with Iran, suggesting that he is in no rush to push for a comprehensive agreement or return to the fighting.
At least two commercial ships linked to Iran have been captured by the US as part of the siege. The US military said on Monday that it has also redirected 39 vessels in the regional waters over the past weeks.
Iran has responded by also seizing vessels it accuses of violating maritime regulations.
The impasse has sent oil prices soaring, fuelling energy inflation in the US, where the price of one gallon of petrol has surpassed $4.22 ($1.11 per litre) – up from less than $3 ($0.79 per litre) before the war.
The international benchmark Brent crude oil futures jumped to more than $119 per barrel on Wednesday as Washington and Tehran escalated their rhetoric.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Wednesday that the US is trying to “activate economic pressure and internal division” in the country “to weaken or even collapse us from within”.
He promised that Iranians “will defeat this deceptive plan of the enemy” and “achieve a brilliant victory” in the war.
Separately, an unidentified senior security source told Iran’s state-owned Press TV that the blockade will soon be met with “practical and unprecedented action”.
Later on Wednesday, Trump reiterated his claim that the US has severely degraded Iran’s military capabilities. “They have very little left. They have some missiles, a small percentage,” he said.
Beyond the duelling blockades in the Gulf, the US and Iran appear to be at a deadlock on the nuclear issue.
Tehran denies seeking a nuclear weapon, but insists on its right to enrich uranium domestically. However, Trump wants the country’s nuclear programme fully dismantled.
Iran has also ruled out limiting its missile and drone production or ending support for regional allies like Hezbollah and Hamas – two key demands by Israel and the US.