Donald Trump warned Iran to "get smart soon" amid a US naval blockade affecting its economy. Photo / Getty Images
US President Donald Trump has warned Tehran that it should “get smart soon” and capitulate to Washington’s demands for tight controls on its nuclear programme, as a US naval blockade turned the screws on Iran’s economy.
The United States could extend its naval blockade of Iran for months more, oil executives were told in a meeting with Trump, an official said, after press reports that he had rejected Iran’s latest proposed deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“Iran can’t get their act together ... They better get smart soon,” Trump posted on his social media platform, above a mocked-up picture of himself toting a rifle in front of explosions wrecking a desert fortress and the slogan: “No more Mr. Nice Guy!”
According to the administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, Trump discussed with the oil executives “steps we could take to continue the current blockade for months if needed and minimise impact on American consumers”.
The news that peace talks were still stalled sent oil prices higher once again. At around 1.35pm GMT, a barrel of Brent crude for June delivery was up 5.16% at US$117 ($200), its highest level since the fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran came into effect on April 8.
The UN Development Programme, meanwhile, warned that the war, which has sent the price of energy and fertiliser soaring, could plunge more than 30 million people into poverty in 160 countries. “It’s development in reverse,” UNDP chief Alexander De Croo told AFP.
Iran has blockaded the strait – a vital conduit for oil and gas shipments from the Gulf – since the US and Israel launched the war two months ago, sending shock waves through the global economy. But its own economy is also suffering.
On Wednesday, the Iranian rial fell to historic lows against the dollar, while Tehran residents speaking to AFP journalists in Paris reported a sense of despair.
“Every time in recent years that negotiations have taken place, the economic situation of the people has only gotten worse. Sanctions have either started or intensified,” a 52-year-old architect told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“They go to negotiate and come back with even more sanctions, and the issue is always nuclear. There’s no talk about people, the economy or freedom. People have the right to not even want to hear the word ‘negotiation’,” he said.
During a White House state dinner on Tuesday, Trump told King Charles and other guests that Iran had been “militarily defeated”, and added: “Charles agrees with me even more than I do – we’re never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon.”
But an Iranian army spokesman told state TV on Tuesday that “we do not consider the war to be over”, saying Tehran had “no trust in America”.
“We have many cards that we have not yet used ... new tools and methods of fighting based on the experiences of the past two wars, which will definitely allow us to respond to the enemy more decisively” should the fighting resume, Amir Akraminia said in an interview.
Efforts to end the war have stalled in recent days. The latest Iranian proposal, passed along by Pakistan and studied by Trump administration officials in a meeting on Monday, laid out red lines including on nuclear issues and Hormuz, according to Iran’s Fars news agency.
The plan would reportedly see Tehran ease its chokehold on the strait and Washington lift its retaliatory blockade while broader negotiations continue, including over the nuclear programme.
Iranian Defence Ministry spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik said Washington “must abandon its illegal and irrational demands”.
“The United States is no longer in a position to dictate its policy to independent nations,” he said, according to state TV.
Qatar – a US ally that was hit by Iranian strikes despite its role as a mediator – warned of the possibility of a “frozen conflict” if a definitive resolution is not found.
Violence has continued on the war’s Lebanese front, despite a recently extended ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group that drew Lebanon into the war by firing rockets at Israel. Israel responded with strikes and a ground invasion.
For the first time since the ceasefire began, the Lebanese army said on Tuesday that an Israeli strike had targeted its troops, wounding two soldiers in the south. Another strike on Wednesday killed a Lebanese soldier, it said.
“Israel must finally realise that the only path to security is through negotiations, but it must first fully implement the ceasefire in order to move on to negotiations,” Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said, in a statement from the presidency.
“Israeli attacks cannot continue as they are,” he said. “We are now waiting for the United States to set a date to begin direct negotiations.”
A UN-backed report said on Wednesday that more than 1.2 million people in Lebanon were expected to face acute hunger because of the latest war.
-Agence France-Presse