A ship was observed waiting to transit the Strait of Hormuz in the Arabian Sea off Muscat, Oman, Tuesday. The fragile cease-fire between the United States and Iran conditioned on opening the strait?has kept maritime traffic at very low levels, as tensions rise in negotiations between the two sides. UPI-Yonhap
WASHINGTON/DUBAI — U.S. President Donald Trump has said he does not expect to need China's help to end the war in Iran and ease Tehran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz, in remarks made before he arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for a summit with President Xi Jinping.
The war is expected to feature in talks between Trump and Xi over the next two days, but Trump downplayed Beijing's potential role in ending the conflict, which has choked off traffic through a key waterway that typically carries about one-fifth of the world's oil supply.
"I don't think we need any help with Iran. We'll win it one way or the other, peacefully or otherwise," he told reporters in Washington before departing for China. Iran has appeared to firm up its control over the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, cutting deals with Iraq and Pakistan to ship oil and liquefied natural gas from the region, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.
Iranian officials have signalled they see that control as a long-term strategic goal. An army spokesperson said supervision of the waterway could generate revenue amounting to twice Iran's oil income, while strengthening its foreign policy leverage.
"After this war ends, there will be no place for retreat," the spokesperson said, according to comments carried by ISNA news agency.
More than one month after a tenuous ceasefire took effect, U.S. and Iranian demands to end the war remain far apart. Washington has called for Tehran to scrap its nuclear programme and lift its hold on the strait, while Iran has demanded compensation for war damage, an end to the U.S. blockade and a halt to fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon, where Israel is battling Iran-backed Hezbollah. Trump has dismissed those positions as "garbage."
Chinese supertanker crosses strait
The Trump administration said on Tuesday that senior U.S. and Chinese officials had agreed last month that no country should be able to charge tolls on traffic through the region, in an effort to project consensus on the issue ahead of the summit.
China, a major buyer of Iranian oil that maintains close ties with Tehran, did not dispute that account.
Source: Korea Times News
