The U.S. has had a hard time replenishing aircraft carriers in the Middle East region after Iran managed to knock out a U.S. base in Bahrain during an early drone attack and the U.S. has been forced to use Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean 2,000 miles away, as a hub to provide food for sailors, The New York Times reported.
Scott Bessent, the U.S. Treasury secretary, said in an interview last week that Washington plans to use economic tactics on Iran that will force the country to relent and agree to the Trump administration’s terms to end the war.
President Donald Trump said last week that the U.S. has “total control over the Strait of Hormuz” as negotiations with the Iranians hit a roadblock, prompting Tehran to essentially close the vital waterway.
Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the chief commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), said in an extensive interview last week that U.S. bases around the world would be seized if the Trump administration ever decided to use a nuclear bomb on the country.
A top Iranian military official said last week that President Donald Trump’s comments about control of the Strait of Hormuz should not be taken seriously, and said the vital waterway is “closed.”
Iran’s Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei announced new appointments in his security establishment last week that analysts say may indicate that Tehran is planning for a longer war with the U.S.
President Donald Trump said that the U.S. will soon be declaring the Strait of Hormuz a U.S. territory, which prompted Iran to call the statement delusional.
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the Iranian speaker and chief negotiator, told state media on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. agrees to the Iranian demands listed in the 17 June memorandum of understanding (MOU), which Tehran accused Washington of violating from the start.