The US president has reportedly shifted to a strategy of attrition aimed at “strangling” Tehran over time
The US has suspended negotiations with Iran and is seeking to gradually “strangle” the country, CNN reported on Tuesday, after its bombing campaign near the Strait of Hormuz failed to yield the desired results.
The US abruptly halted its most recent wave of strikes late last month amid reports that the war, launched alongside Israel on February 28, has largely depleted its stockpiles of precision munitions and interceptor missiles. US top brass have also reportedly warned President Donald Trump that the military has exhausted its list of targets near the Strait of Hormuz.
White House officials reportedly told political allies that they were changing strategy in what a CNN source described as “going from ‘hammer Iran ASAP’ to ‘strangle them’ over time.”
According to the outlet, Trump instructed his negotiators, including Vice President J.D. Vance and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to halt talks with Tehran.
“There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday, adding that the US blockade of Iranian ports remained “in full force and effect.”
The June 17 memorandum of understanding (MoU), which provided a 60-day window to negotiate a definitive peace deal between the US and Iran, expired on Monday as the two sides clashed over its interpretation. Iran’s key negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, last week denounced what he called “theater diplomacy,” accusing the US of issuing unacceptable ultimatums.
Ghalibaf said on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until the US lifts its blockade, releases Iran’s frozen assets, and removes sanctions. Iran closed the strategic waterway, which handles around a quarter of global seaborne oil and LNG trade, shortly after the US and Israel launched their bombing campaign in late February. The US Navy declared its own blockade in April and has since been guiding ships through routes that Iran considers illegal.
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