Iran allowed 10 oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz this week as a “present” to the United States, President Donald Trump said Thursday.
Iran made the gesture to show the U.S. “the fact that we’re real and solid and we’re there,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting.
The comments provide an answer to questions raised two days earlier, when Trump first said Iran “gave us a present” related to oil and gas, without elaborating.
Trump made the claim after insisting in the meeting the U.S has “very substantial talks going on with respect to Iran,” even though Tehran has denied direct talks have taken place.
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, a top negotiator with Iran, said in the Cabinet meeting that the U.S. has had “multiple reach outs from the region and others who want to play a role in ending this conflict peacefully.”
Witkoff also confirmed that the U.S. has presented a 15-point framework for a peace deal, but noted it has been delivered via Pakistan, which has acted as mediator.
Iranian state media on Wednesday reported that Tehran rejected a U.S. ceasefire offer and submitted its own list of conditions for ending the war.
That counteroffer would give Tehran sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, the vital oil shipping route that has been effectively closed since the fighting began nearly four weeks ago, leading to supply concerns that are most acute in the Asia-Pacific region.
Trump on Monday floated the possibility that the strait could be controlled jointly by “me and the ayatollah” as part of a resolution to the war that the U.S. and Israel started.
Witkoff said in Thursday’s meeting Trump has directed him to “maintain confidentiality on the specific terms and not negotiate through the news media.”
“I can say this, we will see where things lead,” he added.
Trump asked Witkoff’s permission before discussing Iran’s alleged “present.” Witkoff said Trump can talk about anything he wants.
“They said, ‘To show you the fact that we’re real and solid and we’re there, we’re going to let you have eight boats of oil … and they’ll sail up tomorrow,'” Trump said, referring to Iran.
“That was three days ago, and I didn’t think much about it,” he said. But while watching Fox News later on, he claimed, “They said, ‘Something’s unusual happening. There are eight boats that are going right up the middle of the Hormuz strait.”
“And I said, well, I guess they were right, and they were real, and I think they were Pakistani-flagged. And I said, well, I guess we’re dealing with the right people,” he said.
He added: “They then apologized for something they said, and they said, ‘We’re going to send two more boats.’ And [it] ended up being 10 boats.”
Trump and his Cabinet officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, boasted throughout the meeting that the U.S. has severely damaged Iran’s military capabilities.
“We estimated it would take approximately four to six weeks to achieve our mission. And we’re way ahead of schedule,” Trump said.
But he acknowledged that Iran’s continued ability to block the strait — through which about 20 million oil barrels, or one-fourth of the world’s seaborne crude, pass daily — remains an unresolved challenge, as does the country’s targeting of ships that attempt the transit.
“The problem with the straits is this,” the president said. “Let’s say we do a great job. We got 99%. 1% is unacceptable, because 1% is a missile going into the hull of a ship that cost a billion dollars.”
“But I have a feeling it’s going to clean up pretty quickly,” he added.
