New York: US President Donald Trump on Monday said talks were underway with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz “literally by tomorrow”, even as he warned that he was giving Tehran a “last chance before decapitation”.
Speaking at the Oval Office, Trump said the situation would be resolved quickly, one way or another.
“I mean they're going to go quickly, one way or the other. It's not very complex,” he said.
“We're talking about the Strait, the opening of the Strait, having it open, literally by tomorrow,” Trump said.
However, Iran has denied that any negotiations with the US are taking place, leaving the strategic waterway, through which around 20 per cent of the world's fossil fuels pass in uncertainty.
“We are not holding any negotiations with the United States at present,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said at a news briefing in Tehran.
Speaking a few hours before Trump, Baqaei said that, apart from Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is currently on a pilgrimage to Iraq, all the Iranian negotiators were in the country.
Trump rejected Tehran's denial, writing on Truth Social that the “Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous” because, after they “beg” for a meeting, they “say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions”.
Baqaei said Iran was, however, holding consultations with Oman, which lies across the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian news agency Tasnim described the discussions as involving a “temporary arrangement that would ensure maritime safety in the strategic waterway”.
Baqaei said no other country was involved in the Muscat-Tehran talks.
Trump also said he had held off a massive bombing campaign planned for Sunday after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and “numerous people” called on him to refrain from launching the attack.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke to Trump on Sunday and, according to the Saudi Press Agency, “emphasised the necessity of prioritising dialogue to reduce tensions and the importance of exerting all possible efforts to achieve a truce that paves the way for diplomatic solutions”.
Trump said Iran had been spooked by leaks about the planned attack, which he described as “very, very hard, harder than any” since World War II. He said Iran had pleaded, “We want to talk. We want to talk about the Strait”.
A Memorandum of Understanding on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, where shipping was disrupted following the bombing of Iran, was signed by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on June 17. However, the agreement unravelled within weeks after Iran attacked ships in the Strait and the US imposed a blockade on Iranian ports.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had initiated the February 28 bombing of Iran with the US, met Trump in Washington last week.
Days after the meeting, Trump prepared for the attack, which media reports said could be carried out in coordination with Israel.
However, Gulf and neighbouring countries have a direct stake in preventing the conflict from escalating, as they would bear the brunt of any Iranian retaliation.
An Iranian attack on a US base in Jordan killed three US Army personnel last month, including one of Indian origin.
Iran also struck Bahrain and Kuwait amid the renewed confrontation.
A second strategic chokepoint, the Bab al-Mandab Strait leading to the Red Sea, was also drawn into the conflict after Iran-allied Houthi forces in Yemen attacked Saudi oil installations in the area.
The attacks disrupted shipping through the waterway, which serves as an alternative outlet for some oil, mainly from Saudi Arabia.
With IANS inputs