At a moment when the world watches the distance between diplomacy and destruction narrow, President Trump has drawn one clear line — nuclear weapons will not be used against Iran — while drawing another around the Strait of Hormuz, the artery through which a fifth of the world's oil flows. The United States, he says, holds that artery deliberately closed, not as an act of war but as an act of leverage, betting that economic suffocation will bring Iran to a table where an enduring nuclear agreement can be written. Whether this pressure resolves into negotiation or escalation remains the definin
Trump Rules Out Nuclear Strike, Claims Total Control of Strait of Hormuz in Iran Pressure Campaign
Eight Iranian women were scheduled for execution; Trump requested their reprieve, resulting in four being released and four detained for one month.
I want an everlasting deal, not a quick fix
Mark
So Trump is saying the US has the Strait of Hormuz completely shut down on purpose. How much leverage does that actually give him?
Mimi
It's significant if true. He's claiming Iran loses $500 million a day in oil revenue because of it. That's real economic pain, and it's a lever he can control without firing a shot.
Luke
But we should be careful here. Trump is making claims about what Iran offered and what he rejected. We only have his version. And the $500 million figure—is that his estimate or Iran's? The reporting doesn't say.
Mark
Fair point. What about the oil infrastructure crisis he mentioned—the thing about oil going bad underground?
Mimi
He's describing a real technical problem. If you can't export oil and storage is full, pressure builds. But again, his timeline—"days"—is his assessment.
Luke
Exactly. We don't have independent confirmation of how urgent that situation actually is for Iran right now.
Mark
And the eight women scheduled for execution—that seems like a concrete thing that happened.
Mimi
It does. Four are being released soon, four held for a month. That's a measurable outcome from his intervention.
Luke
Though we're getting that entirely from Trump's account. We haven't heard from Iranian officials or the families of these women.
Mark
So what's the real story underneath all this?
Mimi
It's that Trump is using economic strangulation—the closed strait—as his primary tool, not military force. He's explicitly ruling out nuclear weapons and saying he's already hit most of his military targets.
Luke
Which means if negotiations fail, he's signaling he'll finish the remaining 22 percent of targets. That's still a significant threat, even without nuclear weapons.
The Pulse
- The Strait of Hormuz — through which Iran could earn $500 million a day — remains deliberately sealed by American forces, cutting off the oxygen of Iran's economy until a nuclear deal is signed.
- Trump revealed that Iranian officials approached him three days ago ready to reopen the strait, but he personally blocked his own advisors from accepting, unwilling to surrender the leverage that closure provides.
- With 78 percent of US military targets inside Iran already struck, Trump holds the remaining 22 percent as an unspoken ultimatum — a clock ticking in the background of every negotiation.
- Trump claims Iran's oil infrastructure faces physical collapse within days as trapped crude loses pressure underground, framing nature itself as an accelerant toward Iran's decision point.
- In a quieter but human thread, Trump intervened on behalf of eight Iranian women facing execution — four were released, four detained for a month — a gesture that complicates the portrait of pure confrontation.
- Trump insists the US faces no oil shortage, drawing from domestic production and Venezuelan imports, meaning America can sustain the blockade indefinitely while Iran cannot sustain the silence.
At a moment when the world watches the distance between diplomacy and destruction narrow, President Trump has drawn one clear line — nuclear weapons will not be used against Iran — while drawing another around the Strait of Hormuz, the artery through which a fifth of the world's oil flows. The United States, he says, holds that artery deliberately closed, not as an act of war but as an act of leverage, betting that economic suffocation will bring Iran to a table where an enduring nuclear agreement can be written. Whether this pressure resolves into negotiation or escalation remains the defining question of the moment.
Standing before reporters at the White House on Thursday, President Trump drew a firm line against nuclear warfare with Iran, calling the very idea foolish and insisting such weapons should never be used by anyone. But what followed was less a statement of restraint than a portrait of pressure already in motion.
Trump described American control of the Strait of Hormuz as the engine of his strategy — a deliberate closure of the waterway that carries roughly a fifth of the world's oil. Iran, he said, could earn $500 million a day if the strait were open. When Iranian officials approached him three days earlier willing to reopen it, Trump said he stopped his own advisors from agreeing. The leverage was too valuable to release before a comprehensive nuclear deal was secured.
He argued the United States could sustain this posture indefinitely. American oil production, he said, now exceeds Saudi Arabia and Russia combined, and ships normally bound through the strait were redirecting to US ports. There was no domestic shortage, and therefore no urgency to blink.
On the military front, Trump said 78 percent of intended targets inside Iran had already been struck, with the remaining 22 percent held in reserve should negotiations collapse. He invoked his Afghanistan withdrawal as a model for swift resolution — though he also said he wanted an agreement that would last, not a temporary fix.
The sharpest pressure, he suggested, may be geological rather than military. With the strait closed and storage capacity exhausted, Iran's trapped oil could lose underground pressure and become unusable within days — a physical deadline no ultimatum could manufacture.
In a separate moment, Trump said he had personally requested a halt to the scheduled executions of eight Iranian women. Iran agreed: four were released, four held for a month. He also named the severing of Iranian financial support to Hezbollah as a non-negotiable condition of any final deal — a reminder that even in a conversation about restraint, the terms being set are anything but modest.
President Trump stood before reporters at the White House on Thursday and flatly rejected the prospect of nuclear warfare with Iran. Asked directly whether he would deploy such weapons, he dismissed the question as foolish and stated plainly that nuclear arms should never be used by anyone, under any circumstances.
But the conversation quickly moved beyond what Trump would not do to what he claimed the United States was already doing. He described a campaign of economic and military pressure designed to force Iran to the negotiating table on nuclear weapons. The centerpiece of this strategy, he said, was American control of the Strait of Hormuz—the vital waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil passes. Trump asserted that the United States was deliberately keeping the strait closed, blocking Iran's ability to export oil and generate revenue.
The math, as Trump laid it out, was straightforward. He said Iran stood to make roughly $500 million per day if the strait were opened. He claimed that Iranian officials had approached him three days earlier willing to reopen it, and that his advisors had been ready to accept. But Trump said he had stopped them. Allowing Iran to earn that kind of daily income, he reasoned, would undermine the leverage needed to force a comprehensive nuclear agreement. So the strait remained closed, and Iran's oil remained trapped.
Trump painted a picture of American economic strength that he said gave the country room to maintain this pressure indefinitely. He noted that the United States was producing more oil than Saudi Arabia and Russia combined, and was importing millions of barrels from Venezuela. Several ships that would normally transit the Strait of Hormuz, he said, were now heading directly to American ports instead. There was no oil shortage in the United States, he insisted, and therefore no urgency to lift the blockade.
On the military side, Trump claimed the United States had already struck 78 percent of its intended targets inside Iran. The remaining 22 percent, he said, remained available if negotiations failed. He drew a comparison to his withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying he had removed American forces from that country in four weeks. If Iran did not reach a deal, he suggested, a similar swift military conclusion was possible. Yet he also indicated he was not rushing toward that outcome. He wanted what he called an "everlasting" agreement, not a quick fix that would leave the conflict unresolved.
Trump argued that Iran, not the United States, faced genuine time pressure. He described a looming crisis in Iran's oil infrastructure. With the strait closed and no place to store the oil it was still producing, Iran faced a situation where underground pressure could render the oil unusable within days, he claimed. This physical reality, he suggested, would force Iran's hand far more effectively than any American ultimatum.
In a separate matter, Trump said that eight Iranian women had been scheduled for execution the previous afternoon. He said he had made a direct request to Iranian officials asking that the executions be halted. According to Trump, Iran agreed. Four of the women would be released shortly, he said, while four others would be held in jail for approximately one month before their release. He also stated that Iran would have to cut off its financial support to Hezbollah as part of any final agreement—a condition he described as non-negotiable.
Notable Quotes
A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody.— Trump, responding to question about nuclear strikes against Iran
We have total control of the Strait. It will open when they make a deal or something else happens that is very positive.— Trump, describing US control of the Strait of Hormuz
Want the full story?
Read the original at Republic World ↗
Politics & Governance