American President Donald Trump admitted today that he is willing to let economic pressure on Iran intensify, rather than order new strikes, amid Tehran’s demands to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“We’re just semi-negotiating with them. We’re just watching Iran, with its runaway inflation and the fact that it no longer has money,” Trump said, quoted by the news site Axios.
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Just a week ago, Donald Trump had issued yet another in a series of threats to strike Iran hard, before backing off once again, saying he expected a quick agreement on reopening the strait. Iran presented a list of demands to the United States today, including an end to the naval blockade, the suspension of sanctions, and the payment of war reparations, dampening hopes of a swift resolution to the conflict.
“Until the United States corrects its behavior, the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened,” said Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, in a statement released by the state news agency IRNA, cited by the Efe news agency. According to Axios, Trump noted that Iran’s economy is in “very bad shape” and made no new threats of military strikes.
