Donald Trump is reportedly seeking a peace deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but sources claim he stunned Arab leaders on a leaked call by demanding they normalise relations with Israel first
Donald Trump told Arab leaders on a leaked phone call that he will only agree to a peace settlement with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if they establish normalised relations with Israel.
A conference call took place between the US president and influential Middle Eastern leaders, including those from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Egypt on Saturday, to discuss the reopening of the critical oil passageway.
It has been reported that Trump urged the leaders to normalise their ties with Israel.
The statement left Arab leaders stunned into silence, declining to respond to the US president, according to Axios.
Trump then quipped following the lengthy pause, “Are they still there?”
He subsequently continued, revealing that his envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff would pursue Israel normalisation discussions in the coming weeks.
Following the dramatic weekend call, peace negotiations between the US and Iran hit a standstill on Monday, owing to disputes over Tehran’s uranium stockpile and the unfreezing of Iranian assets, according to the Wall Street Journal.
As negotiations continue, Trump shared a fresh threat on his Truth Social platform, depicting himself on the phone bargaining with a cartoon terrorist, cautioning that he ‘will blow s*** up’.
The US president had earlier posted that the agreement would either be a ‘great deal for all’ or there will be ‘no deal at all’.
In the extensive statement, Trump had asserted negotiations with Iran “are proceeding nicely” but cautioned that should an agreement prove elusive, US forces would return “back to the battlefront … bigger and stronger than ever”.
He wrote: “Negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran are proceeding nicely! It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all – Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before – And nobody wants that!”
Despite these assertions that discussions are progressing, Iran’s National Security Council has declared there will be “no retreat” in the conflict with the US – mere hours after Trump pressed Tehran for a peace agreement.
Secretary Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr said the nation’s military had demonstrated “fierce resistance and pinned the enemy to the ground”.
He added: “Now more than ever, the country needs unity and cohesion so that the Americans and Zionists will also be disappointed in this regard.”
The statement follows two senior Iranian officials travelling to meet the Qatari Prime Minister in Doha to discuss a peace agreement with the US.
The leaders are accompanied by the governor of Iran’s central bank, present to negotiate the release of frozen assets alongside the other discussions taking place.
Trump added that it “would be something special” for Iran to join the Abraham Accords – a series of agreements designed to normalise diplomatic, economic, and security relations between Israel and several Arab nations.
The US President continued: “After all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords.”
