Donald Trump has claimed that Iran 'can't get their act together' and shared a photo of himself with a gun, saying 'no more Mr Nice guy'. Just a day after he insisted that the King agrees with him that Iran should never be allowed nuclear weapons, Trump shared the image of himself with an exploding Iranian landscape behind him.
Iran's Proposal and the Standoff
Yesterday, Iran offered to end its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz if the US lifts its blockade on the country and ends the war in a proposal that would postpone discussions about Iran's nuclear programme. With a fragile ceasefire in place, the US and Iran are locked in a standoff over the strait, through which a fifth of the world's traded oil and gas passes in peacetime. Trump's post signals that he won't accept the offer, which was passed to the Americans by Pakistan and would leave the disagreements that led the US and Israel to go to war on February 28 unresolved.
Impact of the Blockade
The US blockade is designed to prevent Iran from selling its oil, depriving it of crucial revenue while also potentially creating a situation where Tehran has to shut off production because it has nowhere to store oil. The Strait's closure has put pressure on Trump, as oil and gasoline prices have skyrocketed ahead of crucial midterm elections, and it has pressured his Gulf allies, which use the waterway to export their oil and gas. The closure has also had far-reaching effects throughout the world economy, raising the price of fertiliser, food and other basic goods.
Trump's Remarks at State Dinner
Last night, the President mentioned a little 'work' in the Middle East at a state dinner with King Charles, which he said was going 'well'. 'We have militarily defeated that particular opponent, and we're never going to let that opponent ever. Charles agrees with me even more than I do; we're never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon,' he said. 'They know that, and they've known it right now, very powerfully.'
Cyberattacks and Threats
The stakes of the conflict have increased after Iranian hackers claimed to expose the personal details of thousands of US Marines in the Middle East. Handala Hack Team, which is linked to Iran's Ministry of Intelligence, has been behind dozens of cyberattacks since December 2023. On its Telegram channel, they wrote: 'Today, merely as a demonstration, and to prove the extent of our intelligence superiority, we have published the full personal details of 2,379 U.S. Marines stationed in the Persian Gulf region. This is just a drop in the ocean of our surveillance capabilities. The "security" that American commanders boast about is nothing more than an empty illusion, a childish fantasy.'
Iran has continued to issue deadly threats to US servicemen and women in the Middle East as the conflict continues. Last month, the hacking group published personal emails and pictures of the head of the FBI after hacking into his accounts.
