US President Donald Trump has become the centre of glee and mockery in the Iranian media outlets after he said he will hold off on new strikes on Iran
“We have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “This would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT.”
However, there was no report in the Iranian state media about Iran asking the attacks to be called off or about Tehran’s change in position on the .
Instead, Iranian media claimed it was Trump who had retreated.
‘Fool has run out of steam!’
“Trump the fool has run out of steam!” Iran’s semi-official news agency Fars posted while reporting on the issue.
Morteza Semiari, a political commentator, used a Persian proverb and said, “The Americans’ mountain gave birth to a mouse once again.”
KayhanOnline, directed by Iran’s Supreme Leader, reported the incident saying, Trump had “backed away from his positions once again after about a week of boasting and threats against Iran, claiming that an agreement was close”.
Meanwhile, the semi-official agency Mehr denied that Tehran asked for a halt in strikes, saying: “Trump once again backed away from his hollow threats and presented his retreat to the world as a favour.”
Mehr, citing military officials, said Trump’s claim was “nothing but a new lie” and said Iran’s military was “on high alert and ready for any eventuality”.
The Iranian news agencies also picked up western media reports citing growing shortages of US air defence missiles, as “one of the main factors behind Donald Trump’s decision to halt the attack on Iran,” said the semi-official Tasnim news.
However, after speaking with , Trump insisted the US was “locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” but added that “we have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack”.
US-Iran war
After more than five months of war, which began on February 28 when the United States and Israel launched strikes on , there is seemingly no end to the conflict in sight.
A previous ceasefire deal with similar terms, including the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, fell through, and Iran has since tightened its control over the vital waterway as the two countries resumed attacks against each other in recent weeks.
Iran’s Fars news agency, citing a source close to Iranian negotiators, said Hormuz will remain closed “as long as the United States maintains its hostile actions”.
The resumption of hostilities has caused global oil prices, which had dipped during the initial ceasefire, to rise once more.
And the back-and-forth comes just three months before the midterm elections in the United States, which could pose a challenge for Trump’s Republican Party.
(With agency inputs)
