US President Donald Trump claims Iran’s “new regime president,” who is “much less radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors, has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE!”
Trump writes on Truth Social that the US will consider the purported ceasefire offer “when Hormuz Strait is open, free and clear.”
“Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!”
It is not immediately clear who Trump is referring to as the “new regime president.”
Earlier this week, Trump confirmed that the US was engaging with Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, though he has not been appointed president and is not seen to be any less hardline than previous Iranian leaders.
On Wednesday, Iran’s actual president, Masoud Pezeshkian — who has been in the role since 2024 — did say Iran is prepared to accept a ceasefire, but only if it receives security guarantees.
The post also indicates Trump has again shifted his stance regarding the Strait of Hormuz.
Last week, he threatened to bomb Iran’s energy sites if Tehran didn’t allow the safe passage of all ships through the strait.
Yesterday, though, he indicated several times that the US was prepared to end the war without the issue being resolved and that other countries would have to step up and address the issue because it impacts them more than the US.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirm that they had struck an oil tanker in the Gulf, claiming it belonged to Israel.
“An oil tanker belonging to the illegitimate and child-killing Zionist regime with the trade name ‘Aqua 1’ in the central region of the Persian Gulf was precisely targeted in the valiant missile battle of the IRGC naval forces, and is burning,” the Guards say in a statement carried by state television.
Qatar had earlier said the tanker was hit in its territorial waters.
Iran has previously claimed to hit tankers belonging to Israel when the connections to the Jewish state were indirect at best.
IRGC says Hormuz ‘will not be opened to enemies’
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards insist that the strategic strait of Hormuz will remain closed to the country’s “enemies,” as US President Donald Trump said he would only consider a ceasefire if it was reopened.
“The situation in the Strait of Hormuz is also firmly and dominantly under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ naval forces,” the Guards says in a statement carried on state TV, adding that it “will not be opened to the enemies of this nation.”
Macron says France not ‘taking part’ in Mideast war after Trump criticism
President Emmanuel Macron says France has not been consulted and wasn’t taking part in the war against Iran, after US leader Donald Trump criticized the country’s overflight ban on planes carrying military supplies for the conflict.
“It is absolutely true that France, which has not been consulted and is not part of this military offensive launched by the United States and Israel, is not taking part in it,” Macron says in an interview with Japanese broadcaster NHK during his visit to Tokyo, adding that had been France’s stance since “day one” of the war.
International Energy Agency warns Middle East oil disruptions set to hit Europe in April
Oil supply disruptions from the Middle East will rise in April and begin to impact Europe’s economy as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz severely curbs supplies, International Energy Agency head Fatih Birol says.
More than 12 million barrels of oil have been lost since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran due to Tehran’s attacks on energy assets in the region and restrictions on shipping through the Strait, he adds.
“The loss of oil in April will be twice the oil loss in March, on top of the loss of LNG… It will come through inflation and will cut economic growth in many countries,” Birol tells a podcast with Nicolai Tangen, the head of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund.
Losses are expected to widen in April, since a number of oil and LNG cargoes arriving in March were contracted before the war and continued towards their destinations, he added.
The biggest problem is the lack of jet fuel and diesel, which has already affected Asian countries but was also due to hit Europe, Birol said.
NATO not designed to carry out operations in Hormuz, says French minister
Macron says France not ‘taking part’ in Mideast war after Trump criticism
Iran warns Bulgaria not to let US use airports for military action
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