Trump may end Iran war without reopening Strait of Hormuz: Report
Iran said earlier on Monday it had received US peace proposals via intermediaries.
Iran said earlier on Monday it had received US peace proposals via intermediaries.
Iran said earlier on Monday it had received US peace proposals via intermediaries.
Washington: US President Donald Trump told aides he is willing to end the military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed and leave a complex operation to reopen it for a later date, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing administration officials.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later said Trump wanted to reach a deal with Tehran before an April 6 deadline he set last week after extending an earlier deadline he had set for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that normally carries about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.
Leavitt said talks with Iran were progressing, adding that what Tehran says publicly differs from what it tells US officials in private.
Iran said earlier on Monday it had received US peace proposals via intermediaries, following talks on Sunday between the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the proposals were "unrealistic, illogical and excessive".
"Our position is clear. We are under military aggression. Therefore, all our efforts and strength are focused on defending ourselves," he told a press conference.
Soon after Baghaei's remarks, Trump said the US was in talks with a "more reasonable regime" to end the war in Iran, but also issued a new warning over the Strait of Hormuz.
"Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately 'Open for Business,' we will conclude our lovely 'stay' in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island," Trump wrote in a social media post, also threatening to attack Iranian desalination plants.
The White House said Trump was considering asking Arab nations to pay for the cost of the war. "It's an idea that I know that he has and something that I think you'll hear more from him on," Leavitt said in response to a reporter's question about the idea.
His administration requested an additional $200 billion in funding for the war. The request faces stiff opposition in the US Congress, which must approve new spending.