Trump hints at resuming attacks if ceasefire with Iran expires without a deal

U.S. President Donald Trump said the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will remain and attacks will resume if no agreement is reached with Iran, after Tehran said it had fully reopened the strait to commercial vessels but threatened to close it again over the U.S. blockade.

Asked by a reporter Friday night what he will do if there’s no deal when a ceasefire with Iran expires next week, Trump said, “I don’t know. Maybe I won’t extend it, but the blockade is going to remain. But maybe I won’t extend it, so you’ll have a blockade and unfortunately we’ll have to start dropping bombs again.”

However, Trump also told reporters accompanying him aboard Air Force One to Washington that, “I think it’s going to happen,” referring to a deal.

Questions lingered Saturday about how much freedom ships actually had to transit the waterway as Tehran maintained its grip on the strait and who got through, and threatened to close it again if the U.S. kept in place its blockade of Iranian ships and ports.

Iran’s Friday announcement about the opening of the crucial body of water, through which 20% of the world’s oil is shipped, came as a 10-day truce between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon appeared to hold.

The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, nearly 2,300 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen U.S. service members have also been killed.

Trump rejects notion of tolls by Iran on Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump flatly rejected the idea when a reporter asked about the prospect of restrictions or tolls managed by Iran on the Strait of Hormuz.

“Nope. No way. No. Nope,” Trump said. He said there can’t be tolls along with restrictions. “No, they’re not going to be tolls.”

Source: AP

--Agencies