Add The New York Post on Google WASHINGTON – Iran needs to publicly declare the Strait of Hormuz open and stop firing on commercial shipping vessels or President Trump will start exercising his options, US officials warned on Friday, as the two nations stood, once again, on the brink of war.
US officials, on a briefing call with reporters, expressed frustration that Iran was “reneging” on the terms of the deal made in June’s memorandum of understanding, pointing to recent Tehran attacks on Qatari and Saudi commercial tankers.
One official gave Tehran an “F” for keeping its side of the peace deal.
“What we’re demanding is that the Iranians issue a public statement that acknowledges all channels of the Strait of Hormuz are open and they’re not shooting at ships anymore,” the official said. “They’re either going to give us that statement, or we’re not going to have a good outcome.”
If the attacks on ships continue, the official said, “then we’re going to hit them back.”
The words of warning came after Trump said Tehran requested the continuation of peace talks but the president also flatly declared the ceasefire was over. Talks broke down over the past week.
Now the US has sent an armada of ships – including two aircraft carriers – toward the coast of Iran as part of the pressure campaign to keep the critical strait open and safe.
Iranian officials will be in Oman on Saturday to try and restart negotiations. Safe passage in the strait for commercial ships is at the top of the agenda.
If not, US officials warned, there will be consequences.
“It was very very clear, and we are expecting that as a result of the meeting in Oman tomorrow, that that will be their position, and if it’s not their position, then it’s not going to be a great day for them,” another US official said.
President Trump is losing patience, a third official warned.
“President Trump is giving us the space to see if we can conclude that,” the official said of the talks. “But not a lot of space and not a lot of time.”
Under the MOU signed in mid-June, negotiators have until mid-August to work out details, particularly on the strait and on Iran’s nuclear program.
But US officials sounded pessimistic and noted options were being prepared if no final deal was made.
“There’s a lot of people who are planning for if we can’t make a deal, and the myriad of options that are available to the president are quite large and and and big in range,” the official warned.
The American side argued if Iran couldn’t stop firing on commercial ships and keep traffic flowing through the strait, then the Trump administration didn’t trust them on the nuclear issue.
An official said if Iran would stop firing on ships “that will give us some confidence they could actually honor a nuclear deal. If they never are able to honor the easiest part of the commitment, which is not shooting at ships, then of course we’re never getting into the nuclear negotiation.”
Tensions have ratcheted up between Washington and Tehran over the past week during the funeral for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, where demonstrators called for Trump to be killed.
Tehran has pushed for a pause in peace talks while its country spent several days honoring the late Ayatollah, who was killed on the first day of US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
But the funeral pageantry also turned dark, as attendees waved signs calling for Trump’s death in retaliation. The president, who traveled to Turkey for a NATO meeting on his new Air Force One, took the old plane home after reports there was a threat from Iran against his life.
The administration has not commented on whether there is a specific threat, but Trump told The Post he left instructions should he be assassinated.
“I’ve been on their list for a long time. That’s what we’re dealing with,” he said. “… The only thing is, I’ve left instructions — if anything happens, to just literally bomb them at levels that they’ve never seen before.”
Under the interim deal signed in June, the US ended its naval blockade of Iranian ports, and Iran agreed to ensure safe passage of commercial vessels.
Tehran, however, has tried to reassert its control over the waterway by attacking commercial tankers going through a US-protected shipping zone. The moves have raised the administration’s ire.
“We’re definitely in a wait-and-see moment,” a US official said. “I think the next couple days will be interesting.”
“We either make a deal or we don’t, and we’ll see how it all plays out.”
