Trump Says Strait of Hormuz will Open 'Fairly Soon'

United States President Donald Trump on Friday said the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened soon, insisting Washington would act with or without Iran’s cooperation.

He said his administration’s priority in ongoing peace efforts was to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Vice President JD Vance has been sent to Pakistan to engage Iranian officials as part of negotiations following a two-week ceasefire reached earlier in the week.

Oil tanker previously anchored in the Strait of Hormuz. Credit: Federal Reserve Bank.

Trump further told reporters that the US was determined to restore access to the Gulf route, adding that reopening the waterway, which carries about a fifth of global crude oil shipments, remained central to the discussions.

“We’re going to open up the Gulf with or without them…or the strait as they call it. I think it’s going to go pretty quickly, and if it doesn’t, we’ll be able to finish it off.

“We will have that open fairly soon.”

Trump also said the core objective of any agreement would be straightforward, stressing that preventing nuclear weapons development accounted for nearly all of Washington’s demands.

“No nuclear weapon. That’s 99 percent of it,”he said.