JERUSALEM, Israel – Iranian regime leaders, after an initial denial, now admit that they are holding talks with the United States over the Strait of Hormuz. Yet, even as the negotiations continue, Tehran launched an overnight attack on a U.S. military base in Kuwait.
The Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reportedly launched at least three drones at the base early Tuesday.
Officials also insisted they would not accept a U.S.-backed plan to create an alternative shipping corridor through the Strait and relayed that the country’s supreme leader is looking to Washington to change its behavior.
Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, a member of the Iranian Expediency Council, remarked in an interview, “We will, by no means, allow the second corridor in the Strait of Hormuz. (We won’t allow) the second corridor to open. Even if they deploy warships, we will target them.”
President Trump contended that Iran requested the talks in an effort to avoid a massive U.S. strike. Later, on Truth Social, he accused Iran’s leaders of being “unbelievably duplicitous.”
“Iran did not want to be hit,” he stated. “They said, ‘We want to talk. We want to talk about the Strait.’ But more importantly, from my standpoint, we want to talk about the denuclearization of Iran, because this is what it’s all about. This is why I’m doing this.”
Iran later confirmed that talks are underway.
“This is their last chance,” Trump warned. “This is not something that – if it doesn’t happen, this is a last chance for them to sign a good document.”
The president explained that the talks will proceed in two stages: first, reopen the Strait of Hormuz to normal shipping; second, to negotiate the complete denuclearization of Iran.
He cautioned, “The denuclearization of Iran has to happen, has to happen. And that’ll be the second phase.”
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In Gaza, where there appeared to be disagreement between Trump’s Board of Peace and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the latest statement described a meeting between them as “constructive.”
The statement read in part, “The goal is clear and is not in question: the complete decommissioning of weapons in the Strip and the transition away from rule by the gun to civilian governance. Reaching it will be a process, and that process will be set out in the next phase of the work.”
Media reports indicated that Netanyahu told a Board of Peace official that Israel would not hold its fire in Gaza and would not withdraw to a prescribed “yellow line” due to the threat posed by Hamas.
