US and Iran keep talking as Trump's blockade takes effect
US President Donald Trump said Iran “badly” wants to make a deal with his administration as his blockade against the Islamic Republic took effect on Monday and a fragile ceasefire held.
"I can tell you that we've been called by the other side. They'd like to make a deal. Very badly, very badly," Trump told reporters outside the Oval Office, as he picked up a McDonald's delivery from DoorDash.
High-stakes talks between the US and Iran in Islamabad, Pakistan, ended over the weekend without an agreement, but current and former US and Arab officials told Middle East Eye that both sides are still in negotiating mode.
Reuters reported on Monday that talks are still ongoing between the two sides and that Pakistan was still passing messages between Tehran and Washington.
The report said that the two sides engaged in heated discussions at times, but appeared to be on the cusp of reaching a framework agreement. However, differences over Iran’s nuclear programme, the Strait of Hormuz, and the value of frozen Iranian assets to be unlocked prevented an agreement.
"I want to tell you that a full effort is still on to resolve the issues," Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday, appearing to confirm continued dialogue.
The fragile two-week ceasefire appeared to be holding despite the failure to strike a deal in Islamabad.
Asked by reporters what would happen if an agreement was not sealed by the end of the truce, Trump replied, “It won't be pleasant for them”.
Blockade
Trump has regularly issued threats against Iran, not the least of which was to destroy its civilisation, before walking them back.
Monday marked the start of a new endeavour to try to break Iran’s stranglehold over the Strait of Hormuz. The Wall Street Journal reported that at least 15 US warships would partake in a blockade against Iran.
'Right now there’s no fighting…We have a blockade'
- President Donald Trump
“Right now there’s no fighting…We have a blockade. Right now, Iran is doing absolutely no business,” Trump told reporters.
Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz has emerged as a major strategic setback for the US and a key sticking point in the negotiations. Tehran is allowing its vessels to transit the waterway along with select vessels from Russia, China, India, and Pakistan, while blocking most western ships.
One of Tehran’s demands in negotiations with the US is to institute a toll system, potentially paid in Chinese yuan or cryptocurrency. Maritime experts tell MEE that Iran has a feasible pathway to establishing such a system in a choke point for global energy supplies.
Trump’s decision to impose a blockade has been framed as a bid to impose economic costs on Iran by preventing it from exporting oil.
However, experts warn it would backfire on the US by spiking energy prices or inviting escalation.
US aircraft carrier avoids Red Sea
An Iranian military spokesperson said any restrictions on Iranian shipping equated to "piracy" and warned that if Iranian ports were threatened, Tehran could reciprocate by attacking Arab Gulf ports.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps added that any military vessels approaching the strait would violate the ceasefire.
In one sign that the US is moving cautiously, the aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush is travelling around Africa, and the Cape of Good Hope instead of transiting the Mediterranean and Red Seas to arrive in the Middle East, USNI News reported.
This route avoids the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and keeps the aircraft carrier out of range of Yemen’s Houthis, who are aligned with Iran and have previously shut down shipping in the waterway.
Trump has bragged about “obliterating” Iran’s navy and air defence systems, but he also acknowledged on Monday that Iran has fast attack boats which could pose a threat to US vessels in the Indian Ocean.
"Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea. It is quick and brutal,” Trump wrote on social media.
This article was sourced from Middle East Eye.
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