WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump asserted this Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz, located at the center of the tensions of the war in the Middle East, will open “very soon” or Iran will receive “a very hard blow” and, then, it will open anyway.
“The strait is going to open very soon, or they will receive a very hard blow, and then the strait is going to open,” said the president in an interview for the Fox network shortly after suggesting that this Tuesday the strategic enclave that connects the Persian and Oman gulfs could be open.
In this way, the head of the White House threatened that “if they back down again, they will be hit hard.” “They know it, they understand it. I have no other option. They can’t have a nuclear weapon; it’s very simple,” he said, linking the transit through the strategic passage with the Iranian nuclear program.
Next, the president mentioned that when the United States was preparing to launch a “tremendous attack”, “the largest since the Second World War”, the Islamic Republic called him to ask him to speak, after which he would have suspended those bombings.
“We were heading into a tremendous attack, the biggest since World War II, and they called me and said, very politely, ‘Please, can we talk?’ They didn’t want to. And I said, ‘Yes, we can talk. “We are going to solve it, once and for all,” said the White House tenant.
His words come at a time when his Administration has expressed confidence in reaching an agreement this week, although Iran has limited itself to describing as “positive” conversations with the authorities of Oman – a country located on the other side of the Strait of Hormuz – on the management of traffic in the area.
New route
Iran and Oman have agreed on a route for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz and are putting the finishing touches on arrangements to jointly manage the passage, Tehran’s Foreign Ministry reported Wednesday.
“The geographical coordinates of the route planned by both parties have been agreed upon,” declared spokesman Esmail Baqai, quoted by the state news agency IRNA, who specified that the two countries are working on a “joint declaration”, as long as some “third parties do not hinder the process.”
“The joint declaration of both countries, which contains the main considerations and points of agreement, is also in the final phase of review and drafting,” Baqai added, according to IRNA.
Iran has assumed de facto control of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic sea lane for global energy trade, since the United States and Israel launched their war against the country on February 28.
President Trump has repeatedly insisted that Iran is eager to reach an agreement to reopen the route to maritime traffic, but that country denies this.
He had even announced that he would seek arrangements with his neighbor on the other side of the strait, Oman.
The threat persists
According to the report, Baqai told reporters that talks with Oman were progressing, but that even if an understanding agreement was reached, it would not mean that the strait had become safe for all passing ships.
“The factors that make the Strait of Hormuz unsafe continue to exist on the part of the United States, in particular the naval blockade and other aggressive and threatening actions against Iran and its interests,” he said.
Before the start of the war in late February, about a fifth of global oil and LNG exports passed through the Strait of Hormuz.
The blockade of this strategic sea lane has sent oil prices soaring repeatedly since then, and has increased economic and political pressure on the United States to end it.
