WASHINGTON(National Times)- PRESIDENT Donald Trump rejected Iran’s offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as “simply not enough”, warning that military action against Tehran could resume after the midterm elections and predicting long-term peace with the country is unlikely.
In an interview with Time Magazine, Trump said he had seen “some aspects” of the Iranian proposal regarding the strait, but deemed it “simply not enough”. Asked why he rejected the proposal, Trump said: “Because things that I wouldn’t have approved a year ago I wouldn’t have today.”
Regarding Tehran’s past threats to close the waterway, Trump said: “There was always a threat they had, and it worked for a little while. But we basically closed it on them. You know, they said we’re going to close. I said, ‘Well, if you close it, you’re going to have big trouble.’ We took it over.”
In response to his previous UN remarks about annihilating Iran, Trump told Time, “Yeah, I would do that. It’s possible.”
Defending his title as the “president of peace”, he argued, “Because by annihilating Iran, we’ve created peace in the world. With Iran, I don’t think you could ever have peace.” He noted post-midterm bombings remain possible, adding, “We have a lot of weapons.”
Addressing a Pentagon report citing munitions shortfalls caused by Operation Epic Fury in Iran, Trump dismissed it as “mostly fake news”. Acknowledging some ammunition forms are lower, he said the US is “stocking up at levels we’ve never done before”.
Separately, Trump claimed on Truth Social that while eliminating a nuclear threat typically takes four to six weeks, he “did it in one night”, adding that the remainder of the seven-month conflict ensures it stays that way. He told Time the US destroyed Iran’s navy, air force and radar systems.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that Tehran would defend itself but remains open to dialogue, as the country weighs a US response to its proposal to resurrect a collapsed mid-June ceasefire, IRNA news agency reported.
“We defend the rights of our society with dignity and pride, and we have never run away from dialogue and will not do so, although the United States has targeted our country three times despite having signed the agreement,” Pezeshkian told entrepreneurs, according to the official IRNA news agency.
Iran accused the US of violating the agreement by maintaining a naval blockade. “The US should get the idea of bringing us to our knees with terror and martyrdom out of its head,” Pezeshkian said.
He added Iran is seeking to expand import-export avenues via land with Pakistan, Iraq, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, despite “restrictions at sea”.
To counter those alternative trade routes, the US Treasury Department imposed fresh sanctions on Thursday on Iran’s rail and automotive conglomerates.
The measures target Iran Khodro Company and SAIPA, which represent more than 90pc of Iran’s domestic auto market, alongside the state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Railway Company and top private freight lines.
The sanctions fall under “Operation Economic Outcast”, launched on Aug 24, to cut Tehran’s funding for warfare and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the action “directly targets Iran’s enablers and lays the groundwork for the United States and our partners to drain the regime’s revenue once and for all”.
Separately, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a forum he hoped the Strait of Hormuz would be open to shipping and that sanctions on Iran would eventually be lifted, noting Russia’s proposal to receive enriched uranium from Iran remained on the table.
