US President Donald Trump yesterday threatened Iran with more bombing if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz after a report that an agreement is emerging to end the war.
Trump posted on social media that the war with Iran could soon end and oil and natural gas shipments could restart, but that would depend on Iran accepting a reported agreement that the US president did not detail.
“If they don’t agree, the bombing starts,” Trump wrote.
Photo: AFP
Trump’s threats came after Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) called for a comprehensive ceasefire in the Iran war following a meeting with Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi, who was visiting Beijing for the first time since the war with the US and Israel started on Feb. 28.
Wang said his country was “deeply distressed” by the conflict.
China’s close economic and political ties to Tehran give it a unique position of influence. The Trump administration is pressing China to use that relationship to urge the Islamic republic to open the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump on Tuesday said that he was pausing his short-lived US effort to guide stranded commercial vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz in hopes that a deal could be finalized.
A shaky ceasefire has been largely holding, despite exchanges of fire during the US push to reopen the strait on Monday.
Iran’s effective closure of the strait, a vital waterway through which major oil and gas supplies, fertilizer and other petroleum products passed before the war, has sent fuel prices skyrocketing, rattled the global economy and put enormous economic pressure on countries, including major powers like China.
The spot price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, yesterday fell to about US$100 per barrel, easing significantly from big price jumps earlier in the week. The prices are still well above the about US$70 a barrel that crude was selling for before the war began.
Araghchi’s visit to China comes ahead of a planned visit by Trump to Beijing for a high-profile summit next week with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). The trip would be Trump’s first to China during his second term and the first by a US president since Trump visited in 2017.
In a televised interview with Iran’s state media from Beijing, Araghchi said his visit included discussions of the Strait of Hormuz as well as Iran’s nuclear program and sanctions imposed on Tehran.
Iran has attained “an elevated international standing” after the war, having proven its capabilities and strength, Araghchi said.
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