Iranian forces attacked and seized at least two ships in the contested Strait of Hormuz as a standoff over when or whether to return to negotiations continued. The Trump administration said it did not consider the attacks violations of a ceasefire that President Trump extended on Tuesday. White House correspondent Liz Landers reports.
Geoff Bennett:
Iranian forces attacked and seized at least two ships in the contested Strait of Hormuz today as a standoff over when or whether to return to negotiations continued.
Amna Nawaz:
The Trump administration said it did not consider the attacks violations of a cease-fire that President Trump extended last night at the urging of Pakistani mediators.
Our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, continues to follow this all and joins us now.
So, Liz, we have not heard from the president himself on Iran today, but the White House press secretary did take some questions. What did she say?
Liz Landers:
Karoline Leavitt did an interview on FOX News and then also spoke to reporters outside of the West Wing this afternoon.
She said that the president is satisfied with the blockade. Here’s more from those comments a few moments ago.
Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary:
I’m not going to set a timetable for the president. He has not done that, and I won’t. I know there’s been some anonymous sourced reporting that there was maybe a three-to-five-day deadline. That is not true.
The president has not set a deadline himself. Ultimately, he will dictate the timetable. And, again, he is satisfied with the naval blockade. And he understands that Iran is in a very weak position and the cards are in President Trump’s hands right now.
Liz Landers:
Leavitt said that the United States has been clear in its demands and red lines right now. One of those we know, Amna, is that Iran must agree to turn over their enriched uranium before — as part of these negotiations. The president has said that in the past.
She was also asked about the timeline of this conflict. We are past what the president said how long this would take. She said that it’s basically up for him to decide. She would not put a timetable on how much longer this may last.
Amna Nawaz:
She alluded to there don’t seem to be firm plans for when there will be more direct negotiations with the Iranians. What do we know about where that stands?
Liz Landers:
The White House is trying to project strength right now, but things are really at a standstill after yesterday’s talks were called off. The vice president, of course, did not travel to Pakistan.
Today, as we mentioned at the top, Iran fired upon two ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We have not heard from the president about this, which I think is notable. And the U.S. does not think that firing on those boats is a violation of the cease-fire because they were not U.S. or Israeli boats. That is what Leavitt said.
The U.S., though, has attacked Iranian-flagged ships in the last few days. We have covered that. And within the last few minutes, Reuters has reported that the U.S. military has intercepted three Iranian ships in Asian waters today, so more action on this happening outside of the strait and outside of the region too.
The Iranian president posted on X today. He said that the breach right now of commitments, blockade and threats are hindering these negotiations. He also said that the U.S. is engaging in — quote — “endless hypocritical rhetoric and contradiction between claims and actions.”
We know that the president told The New York Post earlier today that there may be these negotiations that get back on track within the next few days, by Friday, he said. But another regional diplomat that I had spoken to yesterday about this said that it continues to be an issue that the Iranians do not have a clear leadership and clear leader here in these talks.
Amna Nawaz:
White House correspondent Liz Landers beginning our coverage.
Liz, thank you.