Trump is Preparing for Long Blockade of Iranian Ports
NEW DELHI, Apr 29: The President Donald Trump is learnt to have told the U.S. national security officials to prepare for a long blockade of Iran’s ports to compel Tehran to give up its nuclear programme, media reports said.
Mr Trump, according to the report, does not believe that Iran is negotiating in good faith and hopes it can be forced to suspend uranium enrichment for 20 years and accept tight restrictions thereafter.
This comes as U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to face questioning from lawmakers for the first time since the Trump administration launched the war against Iran, which the Democrats have contested as a costly conflict of choice waged without congressional approval.
The hearing before the House Armed Services Committee is being held to discuss the administration’s 2027 military budget proposal, which would boost defence spending to a historic $1.5 trillion. Mr Hegseth and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, are expected to stress the need for more drones, missile defence systems and warships.
The oil prices eased on Wednesday from a multi-day rally as investors digested the ramifications of the United Arab Emirates’ surprise decision to quit OPEC, though supply disruptions from the stalemated Iran war support the market.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump breaking diplomatic protocols, made public the conversations he had in a private meeting with visiting Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla. At Tuesday’s State dinner in their honour, Mr Trump said during the private meeting earlier in the day, the British monarch had agreed with him that Iran should never be allowed to have nuclear weapons.
“We’re doing a little Middle East work right now, and we’re doing very well,” Mr Trump told the audience. “We have militarily defeated that particular opponent, and we’re never going to let that opponent ever — Mr Charles agrees with me, even more than I do — we’re never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon.” While many Britons would agree with the president’s sentiment, the comment triggered mild consternation among pundits in the U.K.
(Manas Dasgupta)
