WASHINGTON - The Strait of Hormuz will be "completely open" from Friday after a deal between Iran and the US to end the Middle East war that limited shipping in the critical bottleneck, President Donald Trump said on Monday.
Speaking at the start of bilateral talks with French President Emmanuel Macron ahead of a G7 summit in France, Trump added, "I don't think we are going to need much help" on keeping the strait open, after London and Paris proposed a joint naval mission.
Trump said that the Strait was "already partially opened", although there was "hunting" going on to ensure it was de-mined.
He hailed the deal made with the Islamic republic, saying "the main thing is Iran will not have a nuclear weapon."
After the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the US-Israeli war on February 28, Trump declared Washington was getting on "well" with the new leadership in Tehran.
"The first set (of leaders) is gone, the second set is gone and we found the third set to be very smart... We ended up making a deal."
He did not specify which leaders he was referring to.
"I think a lot of great things are going to happen in the Middle East right now," he said, adding that Vice President JD Vance would be attending a signing ceremony for the deal Friday but without specifying where.
- AFP