United States President Donald Trump neither denied nor admitted that the reported lack of munitions is the leading cause of the suspension of strikes against Iran during a press conference on Thursday, 6 August, while also repeating claims that the war would end “pretty soon.”
Indirectly responding to the question, Trump said that “we have certain types of munitions that are very powerful, that we have unlimited, virtually unlimited supply. We have others where it’s a little bit tighter.”
The admission of the lack of certain critical munitions came days after the US suddenly halted its weeks-long strikes on Iran. The media has been reporting the reason for the sudden end of strikes being the shortage of bombs and other munitions.
The reports of the lack of munitions have also caused tensions between Trump and his defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, as reported by the Washington Post on Thursday, citing unknown sources.
Trump, however, tried to dismiss the report of such tensions, calling it fake news and warning the media against publishing them. The “leakers of these treasonous statements are being hunted down” and will face “long-term jail sentences” when found, Trump wrote in his social media post on Thursday.
During his press conference, Trump also repeated his claims of Iran being weakened due to the war and expressed hope that the war would end “pretty soon,” saying the Iranians cannot go on much longer the way it is going.
However, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament and head of its delegation which signed the peace deal with the US in June, contradicted Trump’s claims, calling his administration’s approach toward ending the war and establishing peace in the region insincere.
In his social media post on Thursday, Ghalibaf accused Trump of indulging in “theater diplomacy on loop” asking him to focus on facts and fulfill his commitments under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) instead.
“Massive attack coming … wait, never mind, they want to negotiate,” Ghalibaf summarized the rapidly changing, sometimes completely contradictory statements given by Trump repeatedly since the beginning of the war on Iran.
Trump’s contradictory claims and statements have caused widespread uncertainty and distrust among the Iranians.
Ghalibaf called it a failed strategy of “using a combination of bullying, broken promises and fake news as leverage.”
Iran-Oman deal over Hormuz
Iran claimed on Wednesday that it is about to sign a deal with Oman to manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. However, any such deal would not lead to the automatic opening of the strait for international traffic.
The Strait of Hormuz will open for traffic only after the US ends its war with Iran and fulfills its commitments under the MoU, Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said.
Mohsen Rezaei, senior defense advisor to the country’s Supreme Leader reiterated on Thursday that the US should abandon its attempts to reopen a second corridor in the Strait of Hormuz as Iran “will never allow” it.
If the US fails to understand Iran’s concerns, the volatile situation in the strait will continue, threatening the security of US vessels and its forces in the region, Rezaei warned.
The MoU has largely become defunct within weeks after it was signed due to, what Iran claims, US violations of its commitments over the strait and its attempts to undermine the Iranian role in the management of shipping through it by trying to open an alternative route through Omani waters.
Due to disagreements over the strait, both sides have launched attacks and counter attacks and reimposed their respective blockades on shipping through the Persian Gulf. This has led to a massive fall in traffic on one of the world’s busiest sea routes for energy supplies and other trade.
According to a report in Al-Jazeera, on Thursday only seven commercial ships transited through the strait. Before the war began in late February, about 150 ships used to transit through it daily.
Finally some honesty.
"A very unlimited supply..." Lying is almost irrelevant when the colloquial language is routinely misused.