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US blockade of Iran’s ports choking economy, says spokeswoman, as President Trump suggests peace talks could restart
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The White House has accused Iran of acting “like a bunch of pirates” after its Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy fired on then captured two ships seeking to go through the Strait of Hormuz – threatening the fragile ceasefire.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said: “Iran has gone from having the most lethal Navy in the Middle East to now acting like a bunch of pirates.”
The US blockade of Iran’s ports was incredibly effective at choking Iran’s economy, she said.
Earlier, US president Donald Trump said fresh peace talks with Tehran could begin within two days, despite Iranian officials demanding an end to the blockade of ports as a condition for negotiations.
Pakistani sources said peace talks could begin within the next “36 to 72 hours”. When this was put to the US president, he said: “It’s possible!”
However, Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of the Iranian mission in Egypt, had warned that Tehran would not negotiate “under threat”. He added: “We won’t go to Islamabad before the lifting of the blockade.”
President Trump tested Nato and its member countries failed, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt has claimed.
“We hear a lot of talk from the Europeans,” she said. “Unfortunately, we don’t see enough action, as far as President Trump is concerned.
“In his view, he tested Nato and they failed. They failed to come to the defence and to join forces with the United States as the president engaged in this very bold and courageous operation to take out the number one state sponsor of terrorism in this world – the Iranian regime.
“Again, through Operation Epic Fury, the United States on its own, of course, with the help of our partner and friend, Israel, but on its own, irrespective of the European nations and our Nato allies, has completely degraded Iran’s military.
“We have completely confused and obliterated their regime. They are in a very weak position thanks to the actions taken by President Trump and our great United States Armed Forces.
“And so we will continue this important mission on our own. And again, we’ve seen a lot of talk but very little action. And the President is well aware of that.”
The US Navy could sink Iran’s fast, small boats, Karoline Leavitt said.
“We have sunk more than 16 of their naval vessel classes, of Iranian warships. I mean, their traditional and conventional Navy has been completely destroyed. They were the most lethal Navy in the Middle East, and again, now they sit at the bottom of the ocean, as the United States Navy is stronger than ever.
“So yes, the commander in chief has a number of options at his disposal, but right now, the blockade continues to be massively effective and inflicting maximum leverage and economic pressure on the regime,” she told Fox News.
The point of the US blockade of Iran’s ports was economic leverage over Iran, and the US was choking its economy, according to White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.
“We are strangling their main source of revenue – they can’t pay their own people. They’re losing $500 million every single day, Kharg Island is completely full of oil because they can’t transport it to and from…”
She said the cards were in the President Trump’s hands.
“The United States maintains control over the situation, he has all of the leverage, and again, that’s why he’s maintained a little bit of flexibility with the extension of the ceasefire, as we await a unified response from the Iranians to the President’s very clear proposal. ”
Iran is acting like a bunch of pirates, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt has claimed.
“Iran has gone from having the most lethal Navy in the Middle East to now acting like a bunch of pirates,” she told Fox News.
“They don’t have control over the strait. This is piracy that we are seeing on display, and the naval blockade that the United States has imposed continues to be incredibly effective.
“And to be clear, the blockade is on ships going to and from Iranian ports.”
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt says Iran’s seizure of ships does not violate the ceasefire because they were not US ships.
“These were not Israeli ships. These were two international vessels,” she told Fox News.
President Trump had completely obliterated Iran’s conventional navy, she claimed.
The US “breach of commitments” and its blockade of Iranian ports and threats are the main obstacles to “genuine negotiations”, Iran’s president has warned.
Masoud Pezeshkian wrote, without identifying Donald Trump: “World sees your endless hypocritical rhetoric and contradiction between claims and actions.
“Bad faith, siege, and threats are the main obstacles to genuine negotiation.”
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that he extended sanctions relief on Russian seaborne oil for 30 days because of requests from countries that are the most vulnerable to oil shortages from the closed Strait of Hormuz.
Bessent told a US Senate Appropriations subcommittee budget hearing that the requests came from finance leaders of about 10 countries during last week’s International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings. The action reversed his earlier comments last week that he would not renew expiring sanctions waivers.
Bessent said estimates that Iran has gained more than $14 billion from the relief are “a myth,” but he did not provide an alternate figure.
Yesterday, US president Donald Trump reposted a social media post on eight women who, it was claimed, were to be hung by the Islamic Republic.
He called for the release of the women, writing “please do them no harm! Would be a great start to our negotiations”.
Tonight, Mr Trump has posted again on the issue, claiming “very good news”.
He writes: “I have just been informed that the eight women protestors who were going to be executed tonight in Iran will no longer be killed. Four will be released immediately, and four will be sentenced to one month in prison.“
Iran’s judiciary had denied that the eight women were ever set for execution, according to the New York Times.
President Emmanuel Macron says a second French soldier has died following an attack on United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon last week, which he said was carried out by Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The soldier, Chief Corporal Anicet Girardin, was severely wounded four days ago and died of his wounds after being evacuated to France on Tuesday, Mr Macron said.
One of his colleagues was killed immediately while clearing a road in southern Lebanon in the same attack.
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Iran-US war live: Tehran threatens Trump’s ceasefire by ‘seizing cargo ships’ – The Independent
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