US President Donald Trump has said that the United States would begin an effort to free up ships stranded in the Strait of Hormuz tomorrow morning.
In a post on his Truth Social site, Mr Trump gave few details about the operation, including whether the US Navy would be involved.
He described the effort as a “humanitarian gesture” meant only to aid neutral countries that were not involved in the US-Israeli war on Iran.
“For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these countries that we will guide their ships safely out of these restricted waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business,” Mr Trump wrote in the post.
The White House and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for additional information.
Earlier, Mr Trump said he had been told about the concept of a deal with Iran, but was waiting for the exact wording, while warning there was still the possibility of restarting strikes on the country if Iran “misbehaves”.
A senior Iranian official said yesterday that an Iranian proposal so far rejected by Mr Trump would open shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and end the US blockade of Iran while leaving talks on Iran’s nuclear programme for later.
When asked about Iran’s proposal before boarding a flight to Miami at West Palm Beach, Florida, Mr Trump replied: “They told me about the concept of the deal. They’re going to give me the exact wording now.”
He added on his social media channel that he could not imagine the proposals would be acceptable and that Iran had not paid a big enough price for what it had done.
Asked if he might restart strikes on Iran, Mr Trump replied: “I don’t want to say that. I mean, I can’t tell that to a reporter. If they misbehave, if they do something bad, right now we’ll see. But it’s a possibility that could happen.”
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