Iran & The Gulf

The Islamabad negotiations fell apart after Tehran refused to dismantle its nuclear program; the White House is now weighing limited military action and a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as leverage.

The president ordered the US Navy to intercept any vessel paying transit fees to Tehran; the move reverses the administration's earlier strategy of expanding oil supply by easing sanctions on Iranian crude.

Negotiations that opened with pleasantries collapsed into shouting, as Tehran's hardliners dictated unyielding positions despite Iran's weakened state.

According to The New York Times, the three issues the sides failed to resolve were reopening the Strait of Hormuz, unfreezing Iranian assets and transferring Iran's nuclear material. The regime in Tehran is demanding "war compensation" and refuses to reopen the strait to shipping until a final agreement is signed.

Israel Hayom has learned that President Donald Trump personally promised Gulf leaders that the Strait of Hormuz would remain fully open. A source familiar with the talks says Iran is taking relatively conciliatory positions on the nuclear issue, and the matter now appears solvable. 

Talks between Pakistan’s prime minister and the American delegation have begun. Tehran is insisting on the preconditions it set for negotiations, including a ceasefire in Lebanon, war reparations and the release of frozen assets.

Tehran claims it threatened to destroy a US destroyer within 30 minutes unless it withdrew. Washington denies that account and says US warships crossed the Strait of Hormuz for the first time since the war began. Trump: “We are clearing ​out the Strait of Hormuz.”

Iran still has an arsenal of thousands of ballistic missiles that it could use by bringing launchers out of underground storage sites. American officials familiar with the latest intelligence assessments say they are concerned Iran would use the ceasefire to rebuild parts of its missile arsenal.

According to The New York Times, the US had difficulty tracking the small boats Iran used to lay mines in the critical shipping lane, creating uncertainty. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the strait would be reopened to traffic "subject to technical limitations."