US Fires on Iranian Tanker as Trump Demands Peace Treaty
The US military fired on an Iranian-flagged oil tanker on Wednesday after Donald Trump told Tehran to accept a peace treaty or face renewed bombing. US Central Command said a US fighter fired several rounds and disabled the tanker’s rudder as the vessel attempted to breach the US blockade of Iranian ports.
Trump said the bombing would return at a much higher level and intensity if Iran refused the deal. More than 800 ships and roughly 20,000 crew members remained stranded west of the Strait of Hormuz, where the blockade has kept commercial traffic from moving normally.
Trump’s warning to Tehran
Trump posted on Wednesday that, “Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is perhaps a big assumption, the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end.” He added, “If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before.”
He had posted late on Tuesday that “Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement.” On Wednesday, Axios reported that Washington and Tehran were close to a one-page memorandum of understanding to end the war, and that the US expected Iran to respond to several key points in the next 48 hours.
Strait of Hormuz shipping pause
Late on Tuesday, Trump ordered an indefinite pause to Project Freedom, the naval effort to guide stranded commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said the pause came after requests from mediator Pakistan and other countries, while saying Washington’s blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place.
That left more than 800 ships and roughly 20,000 crew members west of the strait, unable to move under normal shipping conditions. Officials in Pakistan told that an initial framework could possibly be agreed within 48 hours.
Netanyahu and Ghalibaf
Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to talk to Trump on Wednesday evening, and Netanyahu said he was “prepared for all scenarios.” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, said Washington was seeking Tehran’s surrender “through a naval blockade, economic pressure and media manipulation, to destroy the country’s cohesion in order to force us to surrender.”
The sharpest pressure point now sits between the pause in Project Freedom and the blockade that still remains in place. The next movement the region is waiting for is Iran’s response within the 48-hour window Trump has now tied to the deal.
