The standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil and gas exports pass, intensified on Saturday. Iran's Revolutionary Guard backed away from previous agreements and announced that no ships would be allowed to pass. Several ships reported being shelled.
They got a little supportive, as they have been for 47 years," US President Trump said in a brief comment to reporters at the White House.
It's actually moving forward in a very good way, and we'll see, but we'll have more information towards the end of the day.
Trump is reported to have held discussions with some of his closest aides. As of Sunday morning local time in Sweden, no new information had been given.
“Becoming targets”
On Friday, Iran's political leadership, through Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, declared the Strait of Hormuz open to traffic after intensive mediation. Less than a day later, the Revolutionary Guard, which controls a large part of the country's armed forces, issued a new statement:
"Any attempt to approach the Strait of Hormuz will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and any ship that violates this will be targeted."
Iran's negotiating chairman Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, like Trump, expresses some optimism about the state of the negotiations. "But," he adds in a televised speech:
The gaps remain large and some fundamental issues have not yet been resolved.
One such issue is nuclear energy. The US has said that Iran's highly enriched uranium should be removed from the country, a proposal Iran has flatly dismissed.
"We have not yet reached the point where we can move on to an actual meeting, as there are issues where the Americans have not let go of their maximalist starting points," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told the AP.
War could resume
The ceasefire between the parties expires on Wednesday.
The US president said even before the Strait of Hormuz was closed again that the blockade of Iranian ports would continue until Iran agreed to a full peace deal. Trump said the ceasefire would not be extended otherwise:
Then, unfortunately, we will drop bombs again.
Iranian Speaker Ghalibaf says the Trump administration has not succeeded in suppressing or forcing regime change in Iran.
Iran is not Venezuela, he said, referring to what he described as a US military blitzkrieg in January that, he said, captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and replaced him with a regime more willing to accommodate the US.
