The US has "full control" over the Strait of Hormuz, US President Donald Trump said today, quoted by Reuters, BTA reports.
"The US has full control of the Strait of Hormuz. AND I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT! Our naval blockade is called by everyone: "A WALL OF STEEL" and Iran can do nothing about it", Trump wrote on his social network Truth Social.
"They have no navy, no air force, the soldiers they have left are not getting paid, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is devastated and on the run, and their "Leadership" is, at best, unstable! They have no money – their country is "ruined". All they have is FAKE NEWS and 300% INFLATION, and the situation is getting worse! Iran is capable of only talk and no action, it is no longer "The Terror of the Middle East". Praise be to Allah! President DONALD J. TRUMP", Trump added in his post.
The United States and Iran are not in talks to extend the ceasefire because, from Tehran's perspective, the agreement has no start date and therefore there is nothing to extend, a senior official from the Islamic Republic told Reuters earlier in the day.
He made the remarks after the Anadolu Agency reported, citing Pakistani government sources, that Tehran and Washington had agreed to a 60-day extension of the ceasefire that came into effect under an interim agreement signed in June.
The document calls for an “immediate and permanent cessation of military operations on all fronts“, but the talks quickly fell apart after US President Donald Trump declared on July 7 that everything was “over“, notes Reuters.
A week later, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced that the interim agreement “has been canceled.”
“There is no question of an extension because from Iran’s perspective, there is no period that has started, and therefore there is nothing to extend. The United States violated the interim agreement 48 hours after it was signed and withdrew from it a few days later,” the senior Iranian official told Reuters.
The interim agreement, signed in June, provided for negotiations to be held within 60 days to reach a final deal that would include curbs on Tehran’s nuclear program and the lifting of U.S. sanctions. The negotiation period could also be extended.
There were a number of requirements, the fulfillment of which was considered a necessary prerequisite for the start of the next stage of negotiations. The conditions included a ceasefire in Lebanon, guaranteeing free shipping in the Persian Gulf and allowing exceptions to allow Iran to sell its oil despite sanctions.
“One of the issues being discussed through intermediaries is the return of the United States to the interim agreement and setting a timetable for implementing the commitments made. There has been absolutely no progress on that point,“ the source told Reuters.