United States President Donald Trump has urged countries that did not help in the US-Israeli strikes on Iran to buy American oil and go to the Strait of Hormuz and “just TAKE it”.
Trump singled out the United Kingdom and France as unhelpful in the month-long war that has roiled global markets, driven up energy prices and seen Iran effectively close oil tanker traffic through the Strait.
“All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Tuesday, local time.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us.
“The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!”
He also criticised France for not letting planes carrying military supplies to Israel fly over French territory.
Iran has ‘necessary will’ to end war
It comes as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran had the “necessary will” to end the war with the United States and Israel, but it was seeking guarantees the conflict would not flare up again.
The comment by the head of state — which boosted markets in the United States — came after a day of heavy strikes on Iran and followed a tough warning from the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Guards threatened to retaliate against leading US tech firms such as Google, Meta and Apple from Wednesday if more Iranian leaders were killed in “targeted assassinations”.
The Guards accused 18 companies, also including Intel, Tesla and analytics firm Palantir, of being complicit in previous killings and warned they “should expect the destruction of their relevant units in exchange for every assassination in Iran”.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched the war on 28 February, killing Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and setting off a wave of retaliatory attacks across the region.
Trump has since zigzagged on whether Washington plans to further escalate the war that has roiled the world economy — possibly by deploying American ground forces — or try to end it through negotiations with Tehran.
Pezeshkian, in a phone call with the president of the European Council, said Iran had “the necessary will to end this conflict, provided that essential conditions are met — especially the guarantees required to prevent repetition of the aggression”.
Responding to a 15-point US plan to end the war last week, Iran had put forward a counter-proposal demanding a mechanism guaranteeing that Israel and the US would not return to war.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking earlier after he visited US troops in the Middle East, vowed that “the upcoming days will be decisive. Iran knows that, and there’s almost nothing they can militarily do about it”.
Asked about next steps, Hegseth said that “you can’t fight and win a war if you tell your adversary what you are willing to do, or what you are not willing to do, to include boots on the ground”.
Trump had threatened Monday that if Iran didn’t agree to a deal, US forces would “obliterate” all of its oil wells, its main Kharg Island export terminal, and possibly its water desalination plants.
On Tuesday, heavy strikes hit Iran, including the central city of Isfahan and Tehran, where blasts occurred and air defences were activated.
Iranian state media also reported damage to a Shia religious centre in Zanjan, while the government said airstrikes had hit a plant making cancer drugs and anaesthetics, claims that could not be independently verified.
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