Iran says Hormuz conditions unmet after Trump remarks

Iran said the conditions for treating the Strait of Hormuz as a safe waterway had not been met, after US President Donald Trump compared his dealings with Tehran to a chess game.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Monday that “as long as the US naval blockade continues” and other US violations continue, the necessary conditions for saying the Strait of Hormuz is safe “will not exist.”

Baqaei also responded to Trump’s comparison by saying: “Lights out or lights on, Iranians showed they are professional chess players.”

Axios quoted Trump as saying he was “low-keying it” with Iran and that the United States was “only semi-negotiating” with Tehran. “We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money,” Trump was quoted as saying. “It will work out. It always works out. It’s like a chess game.”

The Strait of Hormuz has remained largely closed since the start of the Middle East war in late February. Iranian official Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr set out demands on Saturday for reopening it, including an end to what he called war and aggression against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen and Iraq, Tasnim reported.

Tasnim said Zolghadr also demanded the lifting of a US counterblockade of Iranian ports, an end to sanctions, the release of frozen Iranian assets and compensation for wartime damage.