US President Donald Trump may strike a deal with Iran even if Tehran continues its nuclear program, according to infohub.kz.
According to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, Trump has been preparing for weeks to declare victory in the war with Iran, but only if Tehran fully opens the Strait of Hormuz. In private conversations with senior aides, he has discussed the possibility of dropping the nuclear deal. However, this goal has become more complicated as Iran has set tough conditions for allowing free navigation: billions of dollars, withdrawal of US troops from the region, and an end to the naval blockade.
Mona Yacoubian, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted: "This rapid chain of events suggests that Trump's options for exiting the conflict have narrowed again. Trump has repeatedly threatened and then backed off from a major escalation of his bombing campaign. However, the recent chaos in negotiations indicates that Tehran is ready for a prolonged and exhausting conflict. Iran's recent tough demands for reopening the strait make it increasingly difficult for the president to find a face-saving way out of the conflict."
Since April, diplomatic talks have been overshadowed by the White House ultimatum that Iran will never obtain nuclear weapons. Trump has tried to include nuclear negotiations in a broader dialogue, but they proved too complex, prompting the White House to focus on reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's ability to block the waterway with missile and drone attacks has become a powerful lever, paralyzing commercial shipping and shaking global oil markets. Trump has repeatedly claimed the strait is already open, but those promises have been premature.
The publication notes: "Now, with less than three months until the midterm elections and gasoline prices still much higher than before the war began in late February, Trump is looking for ways to tell the American public that the war has been won. In recent days, Trump told reporters he was ready to launch the largest military offensive since World War II, but was dissuaded by US allies. He has insisted that a deal is 'imminent,' though it has not yet materialized."
Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said the US must definitively end the war, lift the naval blockade, withdraw its troops, cancel all sanctions, unfreeze Iranian assets, pay war reparations, cease threats and insults, and stop military actions against Iran's allied militias in the region before Iran will open the strait.