NEW YORK, April 5. /TASS/. The US may reach an agreement with Iran on a peaceful settlement of the conflict as early as Monday, President Donald Trump told Fox News.
"The president tells me he thinks he will be able to get a deal by tomorrow. He says: "I think there is a good chance tomorrow. They [the sides] are negotiating now," Fox News journalist Trey Yingst reported, quoting the US leader.
The reporter also noted that, according to the White House, if Tehran does not agree to a deal, Trump intends to take control of Iranian oil. "If they don’t make a deal, and fast, I am considering blowing everything up and taking over the oil," Yingst quoted the US president as saying.
The United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were struck. The White House justified the attack by citing alleged missile and nuclear threats from Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. US military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were also hit. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some other key Iranian leaders were killed in the joint US-Israeli attack.
In turn, Iranian authorities decided to close the Strait of Hormuz to ships linked to the US, Israel, and countries that supported the aggression against the Islamic Republic. During the conflict, several tankers were attacked for passing through the strait without Tehran’s permission. On March 25, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced that Iran had authorized passage through the Strait of Hormuz for friendly countries, including Russia, India, Iraq, China, and Pakistan.