‘We are low-keying it’: U.S. to let Iran’s economic stress do the work, Trump hints

The U.S. is "low-keying it" with Iran by letting economic pressure do the work of damaging the country, Donald Trump said Sunday. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Article content

President Donald Trump signalled he’s prepared to let economic pressure on Iran build rather than launch fresh military strikes, saying the U.S. was only “semi-negotiating” with Tehran on the Strait of Hormuz.

Article content

“We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money,” Trump told Axios in an interview on Sunday, saying that a U.S. naval blockade of the country was deepening its financial woes. “We are low-keying it.”

Article content

Article content

Article content

The president’s comments mark a shift from his repeated threats to escalate the bombing campaign against Iran and come amid lingering talks between the Islamic Republic and Oman to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to maritime shipping. Tehran has said it’s nearing a deal on the waterway while laying out a long list of demands for Washington before shipping can resume, including the lifting of sanctions and an end to attacks on Iran-backed groups across the Middle East. Tehran also elevated a hard-line former commander to its top security post over the weekend.

Article content

Article content

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s military adviser Mohsen Rezaee, a former commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was named the new leader of the Supreme National Security Council, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported late Sunday. He replaces Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, a fellow hard-liner who accepted a new position as political adviser to the supreme leader.

Article content

Rezaee has been an advocate for full Iranian control over Hormuz. The council he’ll be heading is where Iran’s leaders coordinate decisions on the war and negotiations to end it.

Article content

Article content

Over the weekend, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a pact with Oman to establish a shipping route through the strait was “very close,” without providing details on the substance. He ruled out direct talks with the U.S. for now, citing what he described as repeated violations of a short-lived interim peace agreement signed in June, and adding that the two sides are exchanging messages through intermediaries.

Article content

Article content

The Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas transited before the war, has become a key factor in the war the U.S. and Israel started on Feb. 28. Trump has demanded the resumption of open navigation for months.

Article content

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that negotiators are closing in on temporary lanes for ships entering and exiting the Persian Gulf. (Bloomberg)

Article content

Oil was little changed on Monday, with global benchmark Brent crude trading at US$83.61 after a rally of more than five per cent over the previous three sessions.

Article content

Tehran on Saturday published a list of demands for Washington as conditions for fully reopening Hormuz, indicating any immediate respite for energy supplies may be limited. It wants the U.S. to lift its naval blockade on Iranian ports, withdraw forces from around Iran, remove sanctions, release frozen assets and pay compensation for war damage.