President Trump Says Iran Wants Strait of Hormuz to Remain Open Amid Financial Crisis

JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Iran wants the Strait of Hormuz to remain open to generate "500 million dollars a day," while linking it to the achievement of an agreement and a US naval blockade.

"Iran does not want the Strait of Hormuz to be closed, they want it to be open so that it can generate 500 million dollars per day (which, therefore, is their loss if it is closed!)," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post a few hours after extending the ceasefire with Iran which will soon end, Al Arabiya reported from AFP (22/4).

President Trump emphasized in the post that maintaining the US blockade of the strait, a waterway vital for about a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas exports, was essential to reaching an agreement with Iran.

"They just said they want the strait closed because I have completely BLOCKED (CLOSED!), so they just want to 'save face.' People came to me four days ago, saying, 'Sir, Iran wants to open the Strait of Hormuz, immediately.' But if we do that, there will never be an agreement with Iran, unless we destroy their entire country, including its leaders!" he wrote.

In a separate post, he said Iran "is experiencing a financial collapse!"

"They want the Strait of Hormuz to be opened immediately - Hunger for money! Losing 500 Million Dollars per day. Military and Police are complaining that they are not paid. SOS!!!"

Trump had previously extended a US ceasefire with Iran to give more time for peace talks, with Tehran yet to respond to the decision by Wednesday morning.

Trump extended indefinitely the expiration of the ceasefire, citing a request from Pakistani mediators and stressing the need to give time to the "divided" Iranian leadership to form a proposal.

However, he said the US blockade of Iranian ports - which is a point of contention for Tehran - would continue.