Trump Says US Is 'Low-Keying It' With Iran

President Donald Trump said Sunday the United States is "low keying it" with Iran for now, signaling he is prepared to let mounting economic pressure squeeze Tehran rather than immediately launch a new military offensive.

"We are low keying it," Trump told Axios during a brief phone interview.

"We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money," Trump said.

The president stressed that Iran "is in very bad shape" economically and lacks the money to pay its troops, arguing that the U.S. naval blockade has intensified the regime's financial crisis.

Trump's comments came roughly a week after U.S. officials said he had been leaning toward resuming major combat operations against Iran before deciding to de-escalate for the time being.

The president also pointed to falling oil prices as easing the war's impact on Americans, saying crude prices have dropped to slightly more than $75 a barrel.

 

"It will work out. It always works out. It's like a chess game," Trump said of the ongoing confrontation with Tehran.

Trump did not issue new military threats during the interview or express frustration over Iran delaying an agreement negotiated with Oman and the United States to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The agreement has been pending for several days and would give Iran partial control over traffic through the strategically vital waterway — authority Tehran did not have before the war.

Qatari and Pakistani mediators had been confident the agreement would be announced Wednesday, but its prospects have since appeared to fade.

Iran on Saturday issued a new series of demands for reopening the strait, going beyond the terms negotiated in Oman.

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, 

 

head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said the United States must never "threaten nor insult Iran in any language" and must "permanently end the war against Iran and Iran's allies in Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen, and Iraq."

Zolghadr also demanded that Washington lift its naval blockade, withdraw military forces from areas surrounding Iran, compensate Tehran for war damages, lift all sanctions, and release frozen Iranian funds.

Until several weeks ago, similar demands had been presented as conditions for reaching a nuclear agreement. Tehran is now raising them as conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

A diplomat from one of the countries involved in mediation said Zolghadr's demands reflected political divisions inside the Iranian government.

U.S. officials also have pointed to growing disagreements within the Iranian regime over how to respond to the economic crisis.

One faction, led by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, 

 

is deeply concerned about the possibility of economic collapse and believes Tehran needs an agreement with Washington. Another faction, led by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Ahmad Vahidi, opposes making concessions.

U.S. officials said Trump had been leaning toward restarting major combat operations about a week earlier but was persuaded to hold off.

One official argued that continued fighting allowed Iran's leadership to avoid confronting the consequences of the war, including damaged infrastructure and a deepening economic crisis.

Without active warfare, the official said, Tehran is forced to confront those problems with few apparent solutions.

Meanwhile, approximately 8 million barrels of oil are moving out of the Persian Gulf each night through the southern lane of the Strait of Hormuz in coordination with the U.S. military, according to a U.S. official. Washington intends to increase those flows as much as possible while negotiations remain unresolved.

Vice President JD Vance said Saturday that the administration continues to use diplomatic, economic, and military pressure against Tehran.

 

"This thing is not over. It's obviously not at the beginning. We're in the middle of the game, and we're applying a whole host of tools — diplomatic, economic, military tools — to ensure that we get the best outcome for the American people," Vance told Fox News.

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