Hinting that the United States is unlikely to return to the table for talks with Iran, US President Donald Trump said on Sunday (local time) that he does not care if the Islamic Republic comes back to negotiations with the US. His remarks came after he announced a naval blockade of all Iranian ports after the talks in Pakistan's Islamabad failed to end the deadlock.
"I don't care if they come back or not. If they don't come back, I'm fine," the Republican leader told reporters at the Joint Base Andrews in Maryland after returning from Florida.
He also claimed that Iran's military suffered major setbacks during the conflict and it is almost 'gone'. According to Trump, Iran's capability to manufacture missiles and drones is 'largely defeated'. He also criticised Iran for failing to 'honour its commitments' over the Strait of Hormuz, asserting that the US will open the critical waterway.
"We’ve been very nice. We haven’t ripped down too many bridges. We did it only because they broke their word, they broke their promise," Trump said. "Their promise was that they were going to open the Hormuz Strait. They didn’t do it. They lied."
The naval blockade of Iran
The US and Iran held talks for a marathon 21 hours in Pakistan's Islamabad on Saturday, but failed to end the deadlock between them, as the entire world watched the negotiations closely. JD Vance, who led the US delegation, said they couldn't reach a consensus despite Washington giving its "final and best" offer. Vance noted that the US needs guarantees that Iran will not seek a nuclear weapon; though he did not elaborate about it much.
On the other hand, Iran blamed the "unreasonable" demands by the US behind the derailment of talks. The Iranians said the US should abandon its 'totalitarianism' to ensure that a deal is reached. But soon after this, Trump announced a naval blockade of Iran's all ports and coastal areas beginning Monday.
The naval blockade is further expected to complicate the situation in the Middle East and may further disrupt global supply chains that are already strained by the conflict.
