United States President Donald Trump will remain “patient” to reach an agreement with Iran that consolidates the fragile truce in place since April, but he does not give up military pressure to achieve it. This was stated on Saturday by his Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, who assured that the White House will continue negotiating to achieve a pact that prevents Tehran from accessing the nuclear weapon, while warning that Washington retains full capacity to strike again if talks fail.
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“[Trump] wants me to reiterate how patient he is being to ensure that any agreement is good. A great deal,” Hegseth said during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Asia’s main security forum, after speaking by phone with the president. The Pentagon chief added that U.S. forces are prepared to resume military operations “if necessary” and assured that their weapon reserves allow sustaining a new campaign.
On Friday, Trump gathered his national security advisors at the White House to make “a final decision” on an agreement with Iran, despite Tehran warning that no commitment had been closed.
The meeting in the Situation Room ended after about two hours without any announcement. “President Trump will only close a deal that is good for the United States and respects its red lines. Iran will never be able to possess a nuclear weapon,” a senior White House official limited himself to saying.
Meanwhile, Washington maintains pressure on the ground. U.S. forces announced on Saturday that they had disabled the cargo ship Lian Star , flying the Gambian flag, when it tried to access an Iranian port ignoring several warnings from the U.S. Navy.
The White House: “The president will only close a deal good for the U.S. and that respects its red lines”
According to a military official cited by Associated Press, the ship was hit by military aircraft in the Gulf of Oman and remains adrift. With this incident, six vessels have now been intercepted since Washington imposed a blockade on Iranian ports in April.
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In a message posted on his Truth Social network, Trump demanded the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz for international maritime traffic and called for Iran to remove the mines deployed in the area. He also insisted that Iran’s reserves of highly enriched uranium must be eliminated under international supervision.
These two issues remain the main obstacles to closing an agreement that extends the ceasefire reached in April by 60 days. The draft negotiated by both parties contemplates the gradual reopening of Hormuz, through which nearly a fifth of the world’s oil passes, and the start of talks on the future of Iran’s nuclear program. In exchange, the United States would agree to progressively ease economic sanctions and unblock part of the Iranian assets frozen abroad.
Washington demands the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, without restrictions or tolls for international navigation, while Iran insists that any decision about this strategic passage corresponds exclusively to Tehran and Muscat. Although commercial traffic has never been completely interrupted, it remains much lower than before the conflict.
Tehran insists that no agreement has yet been closed. The spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that diplomatic exchanges continue, while Minister Abbas Araghchi demanded that Washington abandon its “excessive demands.” The hardest sectors of the regime see handing over the enriched uranium reserves accumulated over recent years as unacceptable, perceiving it as a capitulation.
Hegseth assures that Washington will continue negotiating but is prepared to strike again
Mohsen Rezaei, advisor to the Iranian Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has accused Donald Trump of “betraying diplomacy for the third time” by maintaining the naval blockade against Iran and raising what he called excessive demands in the negotiations.
