US President Donald Trump has told his aides privately that he will not end a ceasefire with Iran unless Tehran kills American troops, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing US officials.
Trump’s reluctance to reignite the conflict with Iran suggests that he may be willing to “withstand smaller flare-ups for weeks, or even months, to avoid a broader conflict in the Middle East”, the report said.
This week, the US and Iran exchanged some of their most intense hostilities since the ceasefire took effect in early April.
Iran launched missiles and drones targeting US military installations across the region, as well as Kuwait International Airport, resulting in one fatality.
The US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28, prompting retaliatory attacks from Iran on Israel and US allies in the Gulf. Iran also moved to block the strategic Strait of Hormuz. A ceasefire was reached in early April, but the US imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
The dispute over the control of the Strait of Hormuz has severely disrupted global energy markets and international shipping. Tehran has restricted commercial transit through the strategic waterway, while Washington has enforced a stringent blockade on Iranian ports.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio characterised the reciprocal strikes as defensive measures rather than a return to full-scale conflict.
“They are happening in response to an Iranian action,” Rubio said in a House hearing on Wednesday. “If they don’t shoot at those ships, we don’t shoot, but we have to respond.”
However, the report pointed out that repeated attacks have “ratcheted up pressure on Trump and cast doubt over the long-term viability of the ceasefire”.
Trump has repeatedly said that he is very close to signing an end-of-war agreement that reopens the strait, dismantles Iran’s nuclear programme and eliminates the country’s stockpile of enriched uranium.
