President Donald Trump said he was “optimistic” about a deal with Iran but later threatened Tehran over charging fees in the Strait of Hormuz, as Israeli strikes in Lebanon and the continued closure of the vital waterway jeopardized diplomatic talks.
“There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait,” Trump wrote Thursday on social media. “They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!”
In a later post, Trump said Iran was doing a “very poor” job of allowing oil to pass through the waterway. “That is not the agreement we have!” he wrote.
Trump had earlier described Iran’s leaders as “much more reasonable” than their public comments would suggest in a phone interview with NBC News. The US president also said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “going to low-key it” with Israeli airstrikes on Tehran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, after the two leaders spoke by phone on Wednesday.
Netanyahu’s decision to open direct talks with Lebanon pushed oil prices down on Thursday afternoon, as the US agreed to host a meeting next week to discuss ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Israel and Lebanon, according to a State Department official. But the Israeli leader also reiterated his position that ongoing attacks in Lebanon were not part of the US-Iran ceasefire deal announced on Tuesday.
The Strait of Hormuz — which Trump has repeatedly insisted Iran reopen — remains effectively shut, as shipowners await clarification on its status. Traffic is still a fraction of pre-war levels, despite state media reporting that Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization published two safe routes for shipping.
Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, whose father was killed in the early days of the war launched by the US and Israel, also repeated demands for war reparations — a likely nonstarter for US negotiators. Khamenei also said in a statement on Telegram that Iran “will definitely bring the management of the Strait of Hormuz to a new stage,” though it was unclear if he was referring to past Iranian demands to retain control of the waterway that the US has rejected.
The geopolitical developments on Thursday sowed new doubts about the prospects of securing a long-term deal to end a war that has engulfed the Middle East.
The US and Iran appeared to pause most strikes after fighting continued in the region on Wednesday after the ceasefire was announced on Tuesday evening. But on Thursday evening, the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry said fresh drone attacks were carried out by Iran and its proxies, which targeted a number of vital facilities in the country.
Vice President JD Vance is expected to lead the US delegation in discussions scheduled for Islamabad on Saturday, with Iranian officials due to arrive in the Pakistani capital on Thursday.
Yet Israel’s ongoing campaign against Tehran-aligned Hezbollah risks undermining the negotiations. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Israel’s strikes in Lebanon are a “clear violation” of the ceasefire and “will render negotiations meaningless.”
Israel’s military on Thursday told residents in eight Beirut neighborhoods to leave ahead of strikes, after a major operation that killed more than 300 people the previous day.
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