US President Donald Trump expressed optimism about a deal with Iran’s new leadership and claimed that the war launched in conjunction with Israel had resulted in regime change in Tehran.
The US president declared on Sunday night that the successive assassinations of the Islamic Republic’s main leaders, starting with the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed on the first day of the war, had led to a de facto change in the regime.
“We’re dealing with people unlike anyone we’ve ever dealt with before,” Trump told reporters, describing them as “much more reasonable” than their predecessors.
The Republican leader said he “sees an agreement” with the new Iranian leadership, “perhaps soon.”
Trump said Iran is about to allow 20 oil tankers to pass through the in the coming days.
Iran has blocked this strategic waterway, which normally carries a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas, causing hydrocarbon prices to soar.
Os Oil prices opened sharply higher today in Asian marketsbefore the statements by the North American President.
In an interview published on Sunday night by the British newspaper Trump warned that the US military could “very easily” seize the Persian Gulf island of Kharg, home to Iran’s largest oil terminal, responsible for approximately 90% of crude oil exports.
The island was the target of a US attack in mid-March.
A US amphibious assault ship, leading a naval group made up of “around 3,500” sailors and marines, arrived in the region on Friday, reinforcing signs that the eventual deployment of US troops to Iranian soil is being prepared, a possibility about which Donald Trump has been ambiguous.
“The enemy is sending public messages of negotiation and dialogue, while secretly planning a ground offensive”, denounced the president of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
“Our men await the arrival of American soldiers on land to attack them and punish their regional allies once and for all,” he added.
Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Ali Khamenei, thanked the religious authorities and the Iraqi people for their support in the face of the American-Israeli offensive, which he described as an “aggression”.
Mojtaba Khamenei, who has remained out of sight since his appointment on March 8, spoke again in a written message released by Iranian media.
His absence has fueled speculation, and Donald Trump himself has questioned whether the new ayatollah is alive.
