TEHRAN/IRELAND - President Donald Trump suggested on Sunday the United States could stay in Iran and “keep the oil”, drawing a parallel with a US push to take control of a fifth of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
“We’ll ultimately get out (of Iran), unless we decide to stay and keep the oil like Venezuela,” Trump said, adding that the US revenue from Venezuela had “paid for the war many times.”
Trump also claimed that Tehran “wants to make a deal” to end the war, forecasting a rapid decline in domestic fuel costs once hostilities ceased. “Look, it could end before the midterms, but it’ll end after the midterms,” Trump told reporters in Ireland, where he attended the Amgen Irish Open golf tournament hosted at his Trump International Golf Links resort.
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He added that gasoline prices were “going to drop like a rock” following the conclusion of the hostilities. US gasoline prices averaged $4.31 a gallon on Sunday, up from $4.07 a month earlier and $3.19 a year ago, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
Trump noted that Iranian officials were “calling constantly” to secure an agreement, though he cautioned that his administration would only accept a favourable settlement, warning: “I’m not going to make a deal that’s no good.”
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Meanwhile, Trump also said he did not “care” about a proposed meeting between Iran and Gulf states to discuss the future of the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing US conflict with Tehran, Al Jazeera reported.
“I don’t care. That’s up to them. If they are happy, that’s fine.” Trump told reporters during a visit to Ireland when asked about the planned meeting in Oman on Monday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is conditional on the United States returning to its commitments under the Islamabad MoU, Press TV reported on Sunday.
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According to the post on X, Araghchi, speaking to The New Arab, said, “Tomorrow’s meeting in Oman will focus on establishing a new maritime route through the Strait of Hormuz.”
He further added that we will provide participating countries with details of the agreement with Oman and maps related to the new route and stressed that the agreement with Oman “does not in any way mean that the Strait of Hormuz is being reopened.”
“Iran’s condition for reopening the Strait of Hormuz is for the US to return to its commitments under the Islamabad MoU,” he added. Iran believes that “ensuring the security and stability of the region is solely the responsibility of regional countries”, Araghchi said.
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“We hope these talks will pave the way for future consultations on issues of interest to the countries of the region,” he added.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said Tehran has no issue with Gulf countries, but objected to US military bases in the region, which he said were being used to launch attacks against Iran.
“We have no problem with the UAE. We have no problem with any of the countries in the region,” Pezeshkian said in an interview with India Today, PressTV reported in a post on X on Sunday.
“Our problem is with the US bases in regional countries, which are being used to launch aggression against our country,” he added.
“Iran has never started a war and has only defended itself against US and Israeli aggression, ” Pezeshkian said and further added that Iran does not seek war, but it “will not surrender in the face of sanctions, restrictions on the delivery of medicine and food, and pressure on its people.”
“The only way forward is to end US aggression and unilateralism,” he said. Pezeshkian also said the US had blocked the entry of goods, medicine, and food, as well as trade, and had closed the sea route, and further added that Iran had faced the highest level of monitoring regarding its nuclear weapons programme.
Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy has said the conflict in the Gulf region cannot be resolved through military intervention and warned that “the crisis is poised to continue”, Al Jazeera reported.
Fahmy said Arab countries needed to “establish clear foundations” for their future relations with Iran. He also said Tehran “must change its policies”, describing Iran’s approach towards some Arab states as “extremely negative”.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that US and Israeli attacks on Iran demonstrated that economic resilience cannot be sustained without security, warning that strikes on economic and energy infrastructure can have consequences beyond national borders.
Addressing the 18th BRICS Plus Summit, Pezeshkian said the effects of targeting a country’s economic, energy, and development infrastructure can rapidly spill across its borders and have regional and global repercussions.
He said Iranians, including women, children, and other civilians, had paid a heavy price for the attacks, while infrastructure built over decades for the country’s development had been damaged.
A fire broke out aboard a vessel after it was struck by an unknown projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Sunday.
UKMTO said it received the initial report of the incident at 2300GMT on Saturday, without specifying the exact time the vessel was struck.
The maritime authority initially said the status of the crew, the extent of damage to the vessel and any environmental impact were unknown.
In an update issued on Sunday, UKMTO said a fire had broken out aboard the vessel following the reported attack.
Local authorities were at the scene and assisting in evacuating crew members, it added.
UKMTO advised vessels transiting the area to exercise caution and report any suspicious activity as authorities investigate the incident.
Iraqi authorities have announced plans to gradually reopen three border crossings with Iran, a day after shutting them following a drone attack launched from the shared border area, AFP reported.
The Friday night attack targeted the East-West pipeline. Baghdad subsequently dismissed the military commander in Missan province, near the Iranian border, after authorities determined that the drones had been launched from the area.
The government then closed three crossings, citing the need to reorganise operations and strengthen intelligence efforts to prevent further violations.
The government’s security media cell said that “after reviewing operations at the border crossings,” the crossings would gradually reopen to passengers and trade between Sunday and Thursday.
The crossings are Shalamsheh in Basra, al-Shib in Missan and al-Mandali in Diyala.
Shalamsheh and al-Shib reopened to passengers on Sunday, but remained closed to trade, the government media cell said.