It’s a warning that darkens the climate of optimism that appeared after Tehran’s announcement of the complete reopening of the Strait of Hormuz for commercial vessels, notes The New York Times.
Iran threatened on Saturday, April 18th, to close this strategic passage if the United States maintained its blockade of Iranian ports. “If the blockade continues, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open,” warned the president of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, illustrating the fragility of the situation.
In a series of posts on his Truth Social platform, American President Donald Trump previously praised the reopening of the strait while specifying that the American blockade of Iranian ports would remain “fully in effect” until the end of negotiations.
A significant economic cost for Iran
“Since Monday, the United States has imposed its own naval blockade, targeting ships linked to Iran,” points out L’Orient – Le Jour. “The economic cost of a double closure of the Strait of Hormuz – by Iran and the United States – is considerable for Tehran,” explained Ali Alfoneh, a researcher at the Arab Gulf States Institute of Washington, to the Lebanese newspaper. “A factor that could explain Iran’s turn” on Friday, as noted by the Beirut newspaper.
On Saturday, the Strait of Hormuz continued to be seen “as both a pressure point and a negotiating instrument,” notes L’Orient – Le Jour.
Iran’s frustration contrasts with the growing optimism displayed by Donald Trump. The American President assured AFP on Friday that Washington and Tehran were “very close to reaching an agreement” and that there were no longer any “blocking points” between the two countries, even though “American and Iranian officials warned that some issues remain unresolved,” notes the Times of Israel.
Denials around the transfer of enriched uranium
Iran quickly “denied” another claim by Trump “regarding the alleged readiness” of Tehran “to transfer its stock of highly-enriched uranium,” reports the Israeli site.
On Thursday, the republican claimed that the Iranians had agreed to return the “nuclear dust,” referring to the uranium stock. On Friday, he assured that it would be “returned to the United States.” “We will go together with Iran” to recover the enriched uranium, he said at an event organized by the conservative organization Turning Point in Arizona. The United States will recover the “nuclear dust” with “many excavators,” he said to his supporters, even though the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman had earlier stated that Iran’s stocks of enriched uranium would not go “anywhere.”
“Several times during the conflict, Donald Trump claimed that the war was about to end or that Iran was about to conclude a final agreement – while Tehran only dug in its heels afterwards,” notes the Wall Street Journal.
Officials in the republican administration told the financial daily that Trump’s “bold statements were part of his negotiation strategy: they aim to push negotiators to act, and to increase pressure on Iran to eventually accept an agreement.”
But this strategy caused “confusion and doubt among close allies of the United States and some officials involved in the negotiations” on Friday, observed the Wall Street Journal. “Recent events are encouraging even if we must consider them with caution,” reacted President Emmanuel Macron, following the announcement of the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
