The U.S. Navy has begun an operation to clear the Strait of Hormuz as talks to end the conflict are underway in Pakistan. “Several U.S. Navy ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday,” Axios reported Saturday, citing officials.
The U.S. naval ships were operating in the Strait without any involvement of the Iranian military. “The move was not coordinated with Iran,” the news outlet added. “It is the first time U.S. warships crossed the strait since the beginning of the war.”
In late February, Iran laid mines in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s busiest energy waterway, which carries around a fifth of the global oil supply.
President Donald Trump confirmed the operation on Truth Social, stating that the U.S. was “now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to Countries all over the World, including China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and many others.”
The news comes as Vice President JD Vance is in Islamabad, Pakistan, for high-level talks with Iranian negotiators. “A senior White House official confirms face-to-face trilateral talks between US and Iranian delegations with Pakistan are underway,” the BBC reported.
The Iranian delegation is headed by Mohammad Ghalibaf, who is widely regarded as a key power player in Tehran after the decimation of the regime leadership during the 6-week-long U.S.-Israeli strikes.
Ahead of the talks, President Trump warned the Iranian regime that if “we don’t have a deal” in the next 24 hours, the U.S. was prepared to resume the military operation that began 6 weeks ago. The New York Post reported the president’s remarks exclusively:
President Trump told The Post on Friday that US warships are being reloaded with “the best ammunition” to resume strikes on Iran if peace talks in Pakistan fail.Trump spoke shortly after Vice President JD Vance boarded Air Force Two en route to Islamabad (…)“We’re going to find out in about 24 hours. We’re going to know soon,” Trump said in a phone interview when asked if he thought the talks would be successful.“We have a reset going. We’re loading up the ships with the best ammunition, the best weapons ever made — even better than what we did previously, and we blew them apart,” he said.“But we’re loading up the ships. We’re loading up the ships with the best weapons ever made, even at a higher level than we used to do a complete decimation.“And if we don’t have a deal, we will be using them, and we will be using them very effectively.”
Iran has set preconditions for a negotiated settlement, demanding that the U.S. unfreeze its assets and end sanctions. Tehran, the world’s biggest state sponsor of terrorism, wants $6 billion worth of recently blocked funds. The regime also wants Israel to end the military operation against its proxy terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“An Iranian negotiating delegation led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqher Ghalibaf arrived in Islamabad Friday ahead of Saturday’s peace talks with the United States, which Ghalibaf demanded accept Iran’s ‘preconditions’ before talks could begin,” The Times of Israel reported.
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