President Donald Trump claimed that the Iranian government is not engaging in honest negotiations with the US.
“Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous! They ask for a meeting, some would say ‘beg,’ talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future,” he wrote on Truth Social Monday. “And they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about, and they’re only dealing with ‘Oman.’”
On Sunday, Trump said that he called off a major attack on Iran at the request of Tehran and because the parameters of a deal had been reached. The following day, a top Iranian official said there were no ongoing talks with the US and that Iran is only engaging with Oman.
Iran is attempting to reach a deal with Oman on the Strait of Hormuz. During the conflict, Tehran seized control of the Strait. Iran plans to establish a joint body with Oman that will regulate traffic and collect fees.
Trump is demanding that Iran return the Strait to its prewar status, and also asserted that Washington is in full control of the critical waterway. “They then go on to give their usual blather in saying, the Strait of Hormuz will be operated powerfully by them, when it is already completely controlled by the United States Navy,” he wrote. “And our ‘Blockade’ or, as some say, ‘The United States Wall of Steel!’ Nothing gets through to Iran, unless we want it to, and nothing will get through, unless a Deal, or Total Surrender, is accomplished.”
In June, the US and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding that opened the Strait to commercial traffic. However, Washington and Tel Aviv violated the MOU, and Tehran responded by reclosing the waterway.
