Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
Swipe for next article
US president’s threats come as Vance joins other US officials in Zurich to hammer out peace deal terms with a battery of Tehran’s leaders
Removed from bookmarks
I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice
President Donald Trump has threatened to “take over” Iran after Tehran vowed to close the Strait of Hormuz following alleged US and Israeli ceasefire breaches.
Speaking to Fox News, Trump said he had told Iranian officials: “You close the strait and you won’t have a country. You won’t even make it back to your f****** country, we’ll take over the rest of the country.”
Iran said it would close the crucial waterway to tankers, but the US military had said that traffic continued to flow through the Strait and the US is monitoring the situation to ensure that continues.
The US president also warned in a post on Truth Social that the US will strike “very hard again” if it does not prevent Lebanese militants Hezbollah from “causing trouble”.
The threats come as vice president JD Vance formally launches negotiations in Switzerland between the US and Iran over curbing Tehran’s nuclear program and establishing long-term peace.
Tehran’s negotiators, including parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, along with central bank and oil officials, are already in the Swiss city of Zurich.
Over 25 million barrels of Iranian oil have passed through the virtual blockade line since Monday, the head of the Iranian National Oil Company Hamid Bovard told state TV on Sunday.
Iran’s top negotiator Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf has warned the United States to “be careful” with its statements as discussions in Switzerland concluded on Sunday.
“Our armed forces are ready to respond,” he said.
The first round of talks involving the US, Iran, Qatar and Pakistan have concluded in Switzerland today, a source told Reuters on Sunday.
The discussions came amid renewed tensions after Israeli strikes on Lebanon continued and Hezbollah vowed to limit Israel’s “freedom of movement” within the region.
Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has thanked President Donald Trump for his “visionary” leadership as quadrilateral meetings between Iran, the US, Pakistan and Qatar got underway in Switzerland this week.
“I must, at this point in time, with fullest sincerity at my domain, thank President Donald Trump for his visionary and very dynamic leadership, which has resulted in this meeting here today,” he said on Sunday.
“I think here we are going to have wonderful discussions which will lead to, hopefully, very productive results in times to come. I’d like to thank vice president JD Vance for his very able leadership in leading the United States team.”
Donald Trump told Fox News on Sunday that he threatened to “take over” Iran if the Strait of Hormuz was not immediately re-opened.
The president’s latest round of threats came in response to news Saturday that Iran was once again closing the key waterway, just days after signing an agreement to ensure that traffic could flow through. Iran announced that it would close the Strait of Hormuz after Israeli forces continued an all-out assault into Lebanon aimed at dislodging Hezbollah militants.
Fox’s Trey Yingst reported on Sunday that in an early morning phone call, the U.S. president said he’d warned Iranian officials directly that “you close [the Strait of Hormuz] and you won’t have a country.”
John Bowden reports:
Donald Trump and his deputy JD Vance have been stamping their feet over Israel’s continued war in Lebanon, which could stymie the US president’s only hope of extracting himself from a war with Iran he started alongside Benjamin Netanyahu.
But Vance’s slap at far-right members of the Israeli cabinet – that “You’re a country of nine million people. You can’t just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have” – does not mean that Israel is likely to remain the dominant partner.
Clues to how powerful Israel’s religious right has been in driving American policy lie not in conspiracies, but in two widely circulated documents that have led the US to war in the Middle East twice.
One, “A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm”, was produced, officially, as a policy paper for Netanyahu in his first term as prime minister.
Read the full analysis by The Independent’s world affairs editor Sam Kiley:
Just minutes before Donald Trump launched several bombastic threats on Iran, JD Vance gave an update on peace talks with a high-level Tehran delegation in Switzerland.
The vice president touched down to launch the first negotiations – beginning with technical talks – on curbing Tehran’s nuclear program and establishing long-term peace.
Vance said Trump had asked to turn over “a new leaf” to transform the US-Iranian relationship, adding that the talks would allow for both sides to sit together and work to resolve issues.
But the US president’s latest threats to “take over” Iran if it closes the Strait of Hormuz, and warning that the US will strike “very hard” if it does not curb Hezbollah’s actions, may have called such intentions into question.
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
Leave a Reply