Iran has rejected President Donald Trump’s claims that the “new regime president” requested a ceasefire.
In a Truth Social post, he claimed that the new leader, who was “much less radicalised” than his predecessor, had requested that both sides end hostilities to strike a peace agreement.
It is unclear which senior Iranian official he was referring to. Mojtaba Khamenei is Iran’s new supreme leader, and Masoud Pezeshkian has been president since 2024.
Mr Trump added that the US would be “blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages” if the Strait of Hormuz was not opened.
Tehran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said Mr Trump’s statements were false and baseless, Iranian state TV reports.
The aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush is slated to go to the Middle East, along with three destroyers, officials said. The carrier strike group consists of more than 6,000 sailors. Thousands of soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division have also begun arriving, according to other US officials.
Mr Trump also told The Telegraph that Nato was a “paper tiger” and that taking the US out was now “beyond reconsideration”.
King would have backed me up on Iran, Trump claims
Meanwhile, President Trump has claimed the King would have backed him up over the war in Iran when Sir Keir Starmer did not.
The US president told The Telegraph the King would have taken a “different stand” from the prime minister.
“I like him. I always liked him as a prince. He’s a good man, a great representative for your country,” Mr Trump said when asked about the King’s forthcoming US state visit.
“I think he would have taken a very different stand [on the war in Iran] but he doesn’t do that. I mean, he’s a great gentleman.”
Referring to the breakdown in US-UK relations over the war, Mr Trump acknowledged that the King had “nothing to do with this”.
“He’s a wonderful and brave man, to be honest with you. He’s been through a lot, in many ways,” he said.
Independent
