US demands Iran issue public statement proclaiming Strait of Hormuz open or else

WASHINGTON – Iran needs to publicly declare the Strait of Hormuz open and stop firing on commercial shipping vessels or President Trump will start exercising his options, US officials warned on Friday, as the two nations stood, once again, on the brink of war.US officials, on a briefing call with reporters, expressed frustration that Iran was “reneging” on the terms of the deal made in June’s memorandum of understanding, pointing to recent Tehran attacks on Qatari and Saudi commercial tankers.One official gave Tehran an “F” for keeping its side of the peace deal.“What we’re demanding is that the Iranians issue a public statement that acknowledges all channels of the Strait of Hormuz are open and they’re not shooting at ships anymore,” the official said.“They’re either going to give us that statement, or we’re not going to have a good outcome.”If the attacks on ships continue, the official said, “then we’re going to hit them back.”The words of warning came after Trump said Tehran requested the continuation of peace talks but the president also flatly declared the ceasefire was over. Talks broke down over the past week.

Now the US has sent an armada of ships – including two aircraft carriers – toward the coast of Iran as part of the pressure campaign to keep the critical strait open and safe.Iranian officials will be in Oman on Saturday to try and restart negotiations.Safe passage in the strait for commercial ships is at the top of the agenda. If not, US officials warned, there will be consequences.“It was very very clear, and we are expecting that as a result of the meeting in Oman tomorrow, that that will be their position, and if it’s not their position, then it’s not going to be a great day for them,” another US official said.President Trump is losing patience, a third official warned.“President Trump is giving us the space to see if we can conclude that,” the official said of the talks.  “But not a lot of s...