(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) President Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Thursday that the US didn’t need to reach a deal with Iran and that he directed Vice President JD Vance to put his focus on domestic issues rather than diplomacy with the Islamic Republic.
Trump also claimed in the post that the US has hundreds of billions of dollars in Iran’s “money” and controls the Strait of Hormuz, signaling he plans to continue ramping up the blockade and economic war.
“I have asked Vice President Vance to focus his complete and total attention on the Massive Corruption and Crime taking place in Democrat run Cities and States throughout the U.S. The Blue States, such as Minnesota, California, Illinois, and many more, are all poorly run, corrupt disasters,” the president wrote.
“We don’t need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed. We’ve got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we’ve got their Strait!” he added.
Trump’s post came after Iranian officials had denied that talks were underway between the US and Iran and maintained that a deal to open the strait and end the war wouldn’t happen unless Washington meets Tehran’s conditions, which include providing sanctions relief, releasing frozen Iranian funds, and ending the naval blockade.
While Trump hasn’t restarted the full-scale bombing campaign, the US has been launching strikes against Iran’s Qeshm Island in recent weeks, and it continues to escalate the economic pressure and recently announced it would expand the blockade to land crossings. Iran also continues to strike commercial ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz.
All of the developments make clear that the US is still very much at war with Iran and that the situation could dramatically escalate at any time. Iranian officials continue to warn that, if the US restarts major strikes, Iranian retaliatory strikes will be significantly stronger than before and possibly expand beyond the region.
This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.
