U.S.Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Gulf allies are backing President Donald Trump’s blockade and economic pressure campaign against Iran, telling Fox News Digital after a trip to Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom that regional leaders believe Tehran is feeling the pain.Waltz spoke to Fox News Digital on Thursday evening shortly after landing back in the United States, as reports of a possible deal with Iran began to emerge.
He said the situation was still shifting by the hour, noting that Iran had launched another strike on Bahrain shortly after he left the region.Waltz, the highest-level U.S.official to visit the region since the war began, said Gulf partners strongly support the administration’s efforts to keep pressure on Iran through both the blockade and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s "Operation Economic Fury."SCOTT BESSENT SAYS IRAN UNDERSTANDS 'BRUTE FORCE' AS TRUMP WEIGHS OPTIONS AMID NUCLEAR STANDOFFUS Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz is joined by Ambassador Jamal Fares Alrowaiei of Bahrain (left), Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates Mohamed Issa Abushahab,(right) and other Gulf states ambassadors as he speaks to reporters after the passing of a U.N.
Security Council draft resolution on the situation with ships in the Strait of Hormuz on May 7, 2026 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)"They very much support the blockade," Waltz said, adding that allies shared with him "in a number of ways" how Bessent’s economic campaign is affecting the regime.The pressure campaign, Waltz said, is designed to squeeze Tehran while Trump continues negotiations aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.On Friday, an unnamed U.S.
official told reporters in a briefing: "We do expect to be signing this agreement with Iran over the next few days.We assess it at 85%, but not 100%.
We feel very good about the deal.We are not quite at the finish line, but we are very clo...