Iran War Day 163: Trump Considering Walking Away, Per Report

The Iran War State of the Union: The Iranians claim to be communicating with the U.S. through intermediaries. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images The Wall Street Journal on Sunday, citing U.S. officials, said that President Donald Trump would be willing to “extend the current ceasefire indefinitely” if Iran’s nuclear program can be “kept in check” and traffic resumes in the Strait of Hormuz. According to those officials, Trump had been “laying the groundwork” to declare victory if the Strait of Hormuz—which was free and open before the U.S. bombed Iran on February 28—can be reopened. They say that Trump would then be willing to walk away and declare victory even without a nuclear deal and would also probably lift the U.S. military blockade on Iranian ports. Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, published on Saturday a list of six demands that the U.S. would need to meet for Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz: ceasing all threats against Iran, permanently ending the war (in Iran, Lebanon, occupied Palestinian territories, Yemen, and Iraq), withdrawing U.S. naval and air forces from the region, lifting its blockade of the waterway, ending all sanctions against Iran, and paying war reparations. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that Iran “currently ha[s] no negotiations with America,” but acknowledged that “messages are being exchanged through intermediaries.” Subscribe Today Get daily emails in your inbox Tehran will not officially restart negotiations “until the violations of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) are over and America compensates for what it has violated in the MoU,” Araghchi added. On Fox News Saturday, Vice President J.D. Vance said that the Trump administration is currently focusing on maximizing energy flows out of the Middle East. Yemen’s Houthis on Sunday claimed responsibility for a drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s ARAMCO oil refinery in Jizan, saying the attack was in response to Saudi drone attacks on Yemen.