The attacks over recent days have risked the collapse of US-Iran peace talks, with Tehran warning the Israeli targeting of Hezbollah must end before an agreement over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz can be reached, and then the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear programme. Mr Trump insisted: “We’ve worked very well together. I like Bibi a lot. And I work very well with him,” after confirming his furious outburst, demanding that Netanyahu stop the attacks.
“I’m a wartime president, he’s a wartime prime minister,” the US President said. The phone call was first reported by Axios on Monday. In response, conservative commentator Mark Levin called on the FBI to investigate who supplied the information to the news outlet, while claiming it benefited Iran. Tehran said that the attacks on the Lebanese Shia Islamist group Hezbollah need to stop as part of any peace deal.
Despite Lebanon remaining a sticking point in peace talks, Mr Trump told the New York Post he remains optimistic that the U.S. will reach a deal with Iran “fairly quickly”. “Everyone said it was going to be $300, $400 a barrel; it’s 98 dollars a barrel, but that’s not a big price to pay if you look at the possibility of them having a nuclear weapon,” he added.
A final deal between the U.S. and Iran could be reached this week, and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz acould bring down gasoline prices and the inflation that followed its initial closure. But Mr Trump also said the blockade could remain in place through Labor Day, on Monday, September 7.
“I don’t know. I mean, I think it could be [closed through Labor Day], but I think it’s unlikely. I think that we’ll have it. I think this will resolve itself fairly quickly,” the President said.
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