President Donald Trump warned Iran “better get smart soon” Wednesday, as he weighed military options for the Strait of Hormuz with peace talks at an impasse.
Members of Trump’s national security team presented the president with multiple options this week for how to handle the continuing bottleneck in the strait after negotiations failed to re-open the critical waterway, a U.S. official and a person familiar with the meeting told NBC News.
The standoff between Washington and Tehran, including the continued U.S. naval blockade, means the key trade route has been effectively blocked for two months.
The threat of prolonged disruption to the global economy has sent energy prices soaring — national gas price averages reached $4.23 a gallon, the highest level in nearly four years, while the international benchmark price for oil, Brent crude, surged to nearly $115 a barrel overnight.
Meanwhile, Iran’s national rial currency hit a record low against the dollar, as Tehran's economy also showed growing signs of strain.
The options discussed during Monday’s meeting in the Situation Room included whether the U.S. military presence in the strait should change — either increase or decrease — and whether the military should become more aggressive in conducting operations there, the U.S. official said.
Trump has not made any decisions about the way forward, the sources said, and it's not clear when he might make a decision.
The U.S. showed little immediate enthusiasm for a new Iranian proposal that would end the war and reopen the strait without resolving the impasse over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program — a key stumbling block in the stalled peace talks.
Trump weighed in early Wednesday in a 4 a.m. ET post on Truth Social.
“Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!” Trump said.
Accompanying the text was an apparently AI-generated image of Trump holding a gun, with the message “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”
It was not clear what Trump meant by a “nonnuclear deal.”
Washington has publicly insisted on Tehran halting its enrichment program, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that any agreement must be one that “definitively prevents them from sprinting toward a nuclear weapon at any point.”
“U.S. negotiators continue to engage with the Iranians, who are struggling to sort out their leadership situation following Operation Epic Fury,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement, referring to the U.S.-Israeli joint military campaign in Iran. “The president will only enter into an agreement that puts U.S. national security first, and he has been clear that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.”
That sentiment even echoed through the White House East Room last night, where Trump was hosting a state dinner for King Charles III.
Toasting the king at the banquet, Trump touched on the Middle East crisis, saying the U.S. has “militarily defeated” Iran.
“And we are never going to let that opponent ever — Charles agrees with me, even more than I do — we are never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon,” he added.
Asked about Trump's claim, a palace spokesperson told NBC News “The king is naturally mindful of his government’s long-standing and well-known position on the prevention of nuclear proliferation.’
Meanwhile the U.S. naval blockade continued in an effort to impose economic pain that might force Tehran into concessions.
The rial's record low — trading at around 1.8 million to $1 — could further fuel inflation in Iran, where prices have risen and widespread job losses have been felt amid the war. Trump is hoping to deprive the regime of a key source of funds by cutting off its ability to export oil.
U.S. Marines boarded another commercial vessel, the military said late Tuesday, but ultimately allowed it to carry on its way.
Tehran has attacked three commercial ships and seized two of them in the maritime standoff.
NBC News analysis of traffic movement through the strait showed that it remains largely at a standstill, with 11 ships transiting through it in the past 12 hours.
There was a sign of progress for one import-dependent U.S. ally, at least.
The Japanese-owned Idemitsu Maru tanker, which entered the strait on Tuesday, was confirmed by the Japanese government to have successfully transited through the waterway on Wednesday morning, sailing toward Japan.
