“We’re going to open the gulf with or without them… or the strait, as they call it. I think it’s going to be pretty quick, and if it’s not, we’ll be able to finish the job,” Trump told reporters as he left Washington for a domestic trip.
“We’ll reopen it pretty soon,” he promised.
According to Trump, Iran is also interested in reopening that key sea lane, through which a fifth of the world’s hydrocarbon trade passes, because otherwise “it has no income.”
Will not allow toll
Trump assured this Friday that he will not allow Iran to charge tolls for the transit of ships in the Strait of Hormuz and that the enclave will open “fairly soon” with or without the country’s cooperation.
“No, we are not going to allow it (to collect tolls), it is international water,” he told the press before attending a political event this afternoon in Virginia.
“If they are doing that – no one knows if they are doing it – we are not going to allow it,” he added, when asked about alleged taxes imposed by Tehran on ships that cross the strait, local media reported.
The president assured that Iran would be charging some ships up to two million dollars for passage through the sea route.
Trump maintained that its reopening is an important objective, although he considered that “it will open automatically” over time and stressed that the United States does not depend on that maritime route.
“We’re going to open the gulf with or without them… or the strait, as they call it. I think it’s going to be pretty quick, and if it’s not, we’ll be able to finish the job. We’ll reopen it pretty soon,” Trump said.
Priority, the nuclear weapon
He also pointed out that the United States’ priority in talks with Iran, scheduled for this Saturday in Islamabad, is to prevent the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon, an objective that he described as “99%” of the negotiations.
Trump, who wished Vice President JD Vance “luck” after his departure to Islamabad to participate in the negotiations, added that he does not need an alternative plan because the Iranian Army is “defeated” and its forces “have disappeared.”
In an interview with The New York Post, the president also assured that The Pentagon is prepared to forcibly reopen the Strait of Hormuz if negotiations fail.
“We are preparing a restart (of the offensive). We are loading the ships with the best ammunition, the best weapons ever manufactured,” he said.
Along with Vance, the special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will participate in the talks, while on the Iranian side the presence of the Foreign Minister, Abás Araqchí, and the president of Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, is expected.
Some ships have continued to transit the Strait of Hormuz since the announcement of the temporary ceasefire, although tensions between both countries maintain uncertainty about the strength of the truce.
After the precarious ceasefire announced by both parties, Tehran assured that it was going to start charging a toll for ships that want to transit through the Strait of Hormuz, something that Trump assured that he would not allow.
“The Iranians don’t seem to realize that they have no card, other than short-term extortion of the world through the use of international waterways,” Trump had previously said on his Truth Social platform.
“The only reason they are still alive today is to negotiate!” he warned on the eve of the discussions in Pakistan, which on the American side will be led by Vice President JD Vance.
The US prepares
Trump assured this Friday that his country is preparing for a harsh attack against Iran if the negotiations that begin tomorrow in Pakistan fail or if Tehran violates the fragile ceasefire agreed on Tuesday.
In an interview given to The New York Post shortly after the vice president, JD Vance, took off for Islamabad to lead the US delegation that will negotiate a possible peace agreement with Iran, the Republican assured that the Pentagon is arming itself to also forcibly open the Strait of Hormuz given the possibility of breaking down the dialogue.
“We are preparing a restart (of the offensive). We are loading the ships with the best ammunition, the best weapons ever manufactured. Even better than the ones we used before, and with those we blew them to pieces!” he assured the newspaper.
“If we don’t reach a deal, we will use them, and we will use them to great effect,” Trump threatened.
Distrust
Trump also underlined his mistrust of the negotiations that begin tomorrow after Tehran made public a series of demands that he said Washington had agreed to negotiate, something that the White House denied, arguing that Iran had to present a new condensed proposal that was to its liking.
“We’re dealing with people who we don’t know if they’re telling the truth or not,” Trump said in the interview.
“In front of us, they claim that they are getting rid of all nuclear weapons, that there is nothing left. But then they come out to the press and say, ‘No, actually we would like to enrich uranium.’ So we’ll find out,” he concluded.
Along with JD Vance, the special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will sit at the negotiating table, while Iran is expected to be represented in the Pakistani capital by the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araqchí, and the president of the Iranian legislature, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
Some ships have transited the Strait of Hormuz since the two-week temporary ceasefire was announced on Tuesday, although Tehran’s demands to also include Lebanon in the agreement or Washington’s accusations that the Revolutionary Guard is charging fees to cross the sea passage raise fears for the strength of the truce.
