Trump calls on Iran to surrender as talks remain stalled

Washington, United States. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that Iran should surrender to end the war with the United States, as talks between the two countries remained stalled.

“They should put up the white flag of surrender,” Trump told a Fox News reporter in a phone interview.

Interim agreement

An interim deal agreed in June declared an “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts”, but quickly unraveled.

Trump said the agreement was “over” on July 7, while Iran’s foreign ministry declared it “suspended” a week later.

Under the memorandum of understanding, Iran and the United States committed to negotiating a final deal covering broader issues, including the future of Iran’s nuclear programme, within a maximum of 60 days. The deadline could be extended by mutual consent. Monday marked 60 days since the memorandum was signed.

Strait of Hormuz talks

Separately, Oman and Iran have been holding talks aimed at reaching an agreement to restore commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The strait carried 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies before U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran began in late February.

“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,” Trump told Fox.

Domestic pressure

The dispute over control of the Strait of Hormuz has increased fuel prices and added pressure on Trump to end a war that is unpopular domestically ahead of November midterm elections that will determine control of the U.S. Congress.

Trump said the midterm elections were not affecting his strategy on Iran.

“Midterms have nothing to do with my thinking,” he said.

Earlier on Monday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that Iran must not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon, repeating one of his stated reasons for the war.