Trump says U.S. only “semi-negotiating” with Iran after Tehran sets demands to reopen Strait of Hormuz

President Trump said on Sunday that the U.S. is “low-keying” negotiations with Iran and signaled a willingness to allow economic pressure to mount on the Islamic Republic.

“We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money,” Mr. Trump told Axios during a phone interview.

He said Iran is in “very bad shape” and that the U.S. blockade on the Strait of Hormuz has exacerbated the country’s economy.

“It will work out. It always works out. It’s like a chess game,” Mr. Trump said.

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen attacked the government-held port city of Mocha late Sunday night. It was the second attack on the Red Sea coast city in less than 24 hours.

A Houthi military source told the Houthi-controlled Al-Masirah TV that the attack targeted weapons depots and Saudi troop concentrations.

A statement from the Yemeni Armed Forces posted on X said residential neighborhoods were targeted by ballistic missiles and drones in the attack, and that air defense systems managed to intercept some of the drones.

Drones and missiles were also used during the earlier attack on Sunday. The Yemeni government-allied National Resistance Forces said at least seven people – four troops and three civilians – were killed and 15 civilians were injured in that strike.

Fayed al-Noman, the information ministry’s assistant undersecretary, said the attack severely damaged port buildings and piers as well as commercial goods and food supplies. The military later said missiles landed in several areas, including near a television station.

Mocha is a main port under Yemen’s internationally recognized government and has been renovated to handle shipping that avoids the Houthi-held port of Hodeida.

The Houthis said they targeted military forces and warehouses.

Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesperson, said they also targeted an Aramco refinery in the Saudi city of Jazan with a drone in response to Saudi drones breaching Yemen’s airspace over Hajjah and Saada provinces.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected a U.S.-backed Gaza peace plan and vowed there would be no military withdrawal until Hamas is “genuinely” disarmed.

On Sunday, after more than a week of gradually escalating criticism of the plan, Netanyahu explicitly opposed it as he faced pushback from his right-wing base ahead of elections.

“Israel rejects the 15-point document,” he said in a cabinet meeting, adding that the military “will not make any withdrawal until Hamas is truly disarmed and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and citizens.”

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Iran’s politburo-like body known as the Supreme National Security Council said the Strait of Hormuz will not open until the United States “corrects its behavior,” issuing new demands that could shake up talks on a deal to manage the waterway and traffic on it.

Iran’s state broadcaster published the statement by the council’s secretary, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who is also a commander in the powerful Revolutionary Guard.

The U.S. must never threaten Iran again, the statement said, and must permanently end the war with Iran and its armed allies in the region. The U.S. must lift the naval blockade of Iranian ports and withdraw its military from the area. It also must “completely compensate” Iran for war damage, lift sanctions and “unconditionally” release frozen assets.