By Kanishka Singh and Bo Erickson
WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said there was an “all-day negotiation” on Tuesday with Iran, characterizing the talks positively while also threatening to hit Iran “really hard” if a deal with Tehran was not reached.
• “They had an all-day negotiation,” Trump told Fox News’ “@ Night” show.
• “We are having very good discussions,” he added.
• Qatar said on Tuesday mediators were making progress in efforts to end the Iran war, although Tehran has denied Trump’s assertion that talks were under way.
• The Strait of Hormuz “is going to be open very soon,” Trump said, warning that if that did not happen, Iran would be hit hard.
• “If they back out again, they are going to get hit really hard,” Trump said.
• Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a main route for energy supplies from the Middle East, after the start of the war.
• The Iran war began on February 28 when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran and Tehran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host U.S. bases.
• U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have since killed thousands and displaced millions.
• Trump’s rhetoric during the war has been condemned by rights experts when he has threatened to target Iranian civilian infrastructure and when he threatened to destroy their civilization in April.
• Iran has warned that if the U.S. carried out such threats, Iranian forces would target regional energy and economic facilities.
• The 1949 Geneva Conventions on humanitarian conduct in war prohibit attacks on sites considered essential for civilians.
• Such attacks could amount to war crimes, international law experts in the U.S. said in April, after Trump’s previous threats.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh, Jasper Ward and Bo Erickson in Washington; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Saad Sayeed)
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