President Trump told reporters Monday that the Strait of Hormuz is fully open to shipping and that oil flows through the waterway now exceed pre-war levels. He repeated that Iran would never be permitted to obtain a nuclear weapon and said negotiations toward a broader agreement with Tehran were progressing toward what he called a fair and reasonable outcome.
Trump said any Iranian funds unfrozen as part of an eventual deal would be earmarked specifically for purchases of American agricultural products. He warned that he would respond if Iran failed to honor its commitments, and said he was separately working to resolve outstanding issues involving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The comments follow last week’s signing of a 14-point memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran, under which Tehran agreed not to pursue nuclear weapons while leaving the disposition of its enriched uranium stockpile to future negotiation, with officials discussing a process to downblend the material under International Atomic Energy Agency supervision. The memorandum also calls for the Strait of Hormuz to remain open to commercial traffic, the lifting of U.S. sanctions, the release of frozen Iranian assets, and the phased withdrawal of American naval forces from the region.
The strait, through which roughly a fifth of global oil shipments normally pass, had been a major flashpoint during the conflict, with Iran intermittently restricting passage and shipping companies reportedly paying the Revolutionary Guard substantial sums for safe transit. Talks on the remaining details of a final agreement, including enforcement mechanisms tied to Iran’s nuclear program, are continuing under a 60-day roadmap agreed at this week’s talks in Switzerland.
