Trump Now Relies on Economic Pressure on Iran, Not Missile Strikes

US President Donald Trump said Washington is using economic pressure, not new military strikes, to push Iran toward a deal, Al Jazeera reported on Aug. 10, citing an Axios interview Sunday.

“We are low-keying it,” Trump said, describing what Al Jazeera called a more cautious approach after months of conflict. He said Washington is “only semi-negotiating” with Tehran while monitoring the toll the war has taken on Iran’s economy.

Trump said Iran is in “very bad shape” financially, citing high inflation and difficulty paying its own troops. He credited a US naval blockade in place since April with deepening pressure on Tehran, and said oil prices just above $75 a barrel had eased the impact on US consumers.

“It will work out. It always works out. It’s like a chess game,” Trump said.

Al Jazeera reported that Oman-mediated talks on reopening the Strait of Hormuz appear close to a breakthrough. Iran’s foreign ministry said this month the talks had reached their “final” stages, with both sides nearing agreement on coordinates for a new shipping route through the strait.

Tehran has said it will not fully reopen the waterway until the US “corrects its behaviour”, including demands to lift the blockade, halt military actions and pay war damages. Al Jazeera said a June ceasefire collapsed weeks later over control of the strait, after which fighting resumed and Iran continued intermittent strikes on US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.