Trump says Hormuz will open under Iran deal, rules out sanctions relief
President Donald Trump said the Strait of Hormuz would be open to all under any deal with Iran and would not be controlled by any country, while ruling out sanctions relief or financial concessions to Tehran.
Speaking at a White House Cabinet meeting, Trump said Hormuz was international waters and that the United States would monitor the waterway.
“No, the strait’s going to be open to everybody, sir. It’s international waters. Nobody’s going to control it,” Trump said. “We’re going to watch over it.”
Trump said Iran would like to control the strait, but that this would not be allowed.
“They would like to control it. Nobody’s going to control it. It’s international waters,” he said.
Asked about Oman’s role, Trump said Oman would have to act like other countries, adding in a warning that the United States would use force if necessary.
“Oman will behave just like everybody else, and we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that. They’ll be fine,” Trump said.
Trump said the United States had enough energy supplies of its own and described the Hormuz crisis as mainly a global problem because many other countries rely more heavily on energy flows through the region.
He said oil prices would come down and argued that without US strikes, Iran would have obtained a nuclear weapon quickly.
“If we didn’t hit them with the B-2 bombers, Iran would have had a nuclear weapon within two weeks from that day because they were ready to go,” Trump said.
He also defended his earlier decision to withdraw from the Obama-era nuclear deal, saying Iran would otherwise have obtained and used a nuclear weapon.
“It would have blown up Israel. It would have blown up the entire Middle East. And that’s never going to happen,” Trump said.
Trump separately ruled out sanctions relief or the release of funds for Iran as part of the current talks.
“No, we’re not talking about any easing of sanctions or giving money,” he said. “No sanctions, no money, no nothing.”
Trump said Washington controls funds that Iran says belong to it and would keep control of them for now.
“When they behave properly and when they do what’s right, we’ll let them have their money. But right now, we’re not doing that, and one thing is not contingent on the other,” he said.
Trump said Iran appeared to be giving the United States some of what Washington is demanding, but warned that failure to do so could trigger renewed military action.
“I think they’re starting to give us the things that they have to give us, and if they do, that’s great, and if they won’t, then the man on my left is going to finish them off,” Trump said, apparently referring to War Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Asked about a timeframe, Trump said developments could move quickly but pushed back against pressure to set deadlines, comparing the current conflict with longer US wars in Vietnam, Korea and Afghanistan.
