But Trump himself soon voiced doubts about taking over the oil terminal, saying in an interview with Fox News: “I don’t know that America has the stomach for it, to be honest.” “I don’t want to have boots on the ground,” Trump said. “But if I wanted to, we could put a small group of soldiers and take over the place.” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a social media post that the US would extract funds from frozen Iranian accounts to offset the
costs of damage to American allies and any tolls Iran imposes for ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz. Beyond the deadlock over the strait, the two sides also remain at odds over Iran’s nuclear programme. Tehran insists its nuclear efforts are peaceful. The US and Israel fear Tehran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium could be used to build an atomic weapon. Iran has insisted that any deal to end the war must also end fighting in Lebanon between its ally militia Hezbollah and Israel.
But Netanyahu appears intent on pursuing his goal of destroying the militant group. A 25-year-old student in northern Iran says Iranians are fearing “chaos” amid the war with the US and Israel and multiplying crises at home. The student, who lives in the city of Babol, said many Iranians are struggling to afford groceries in the face of mass job losses and triple-digit food inflation. He spoke on the condition of anonymity out of security fears.
Trump, Iran, peace deal, new strikes, Fox News, Scott Bessent, frozen Iranian accounts, Strait of Hormuz, oil terminal, nuclear programme, Israel, Netanyahu, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Babol, food inflation, job losses