Trump claims Iran allowed 10 oil tankers through Hormuz as “goodwill gesture”

WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trumpsaid on Thursday that Iran was letting 10 ​oil tankers transit the Strait of Hormuz as an ‌apparent goodwill gesture in negotiations.

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Trump made the comments at a Cabinet meeting in the White House, elaborating on what he ​had previously described as a “present” from Iran.

“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, eight ​boats, eight big boats of oil,” Trump said. “I guess they were right, and they were real, and I think they ​were Pakistani-flagged… It ended up being 10 boats.”

The ​White House did not immediately respond to a request for more ‌details ⁠on the vessels.

Trump’s comments came as he pressed Iran to agree to a deal that would clear the maritime chokepoint and end its nuclear program.

The U.S. president ​on Tuesday ​had baffled ⁠some observers when he said that Iran had given the United States an ​expensive, energy-related concession. At the time,
he ​declined ⁠to say what exactly he meant.

“They gave us a present and the present arrived today, and it was ⁠a ​very big present, worth a tremendous ​amount of money,” Trump told reporters then.

Earlier, President Donald Trump urged Iran to make a ​deal to end U.S. and Israeli bombing ‌or face more strikes on their country.

“They now have the chance, that is Iran, to permanently abandon their ​nuclear ambitions and to join a new ​path forward,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting ⁠at the White House. “We’ll see if they ​want to do it. If they don’t, we’re their ​worst nightmare. In the meantime, we’ll just keep blowing them away.”

Trump spoke after a senior Iranian official told Reuters ​on Thursday that Washington’s proposal for ending nearly ​four weeks of fighting is “one-sided and unfair” but that diplomacy ‌continues.