Updated

Updated · Common Dreams · Jul 12

Trump Twice Shuts Down Strait of Hormuz Questions as Iran Again Declares Waterway Closed

Updated

Updated · Common Dreams · Jul 12

Trump Twice Shuts Down Strait of Hormuz Questions as Iran Again Declares Waterway Closed

Q: A new U.S.-Iran pact was signed on Sunday. Why did President Trump refuse to discuss the crisis on the very same day?

He refused because he said he wanted the interviews to focus on the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, not on the Strait of Hormuz crisis. In both the NBC and CNN interviews on July 12, Trump said the waterway was “open as far as we’re concerned,” then told the interviewers to stop asking and “honor the life” of Graham, who had died the day before. That explanation came even though a new U.S.-Iran understanding was reportedly signed the same day. The additional reporting says the new “Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding” was digitally signed on Sunday and aimed to reopen the Strait, halt military operations, ease financial restrictions on Iran, and open a 60-day window for a broader nuclear and security deal. So the immediate reason for Trump’s refusal was not that there was no diplomacy underway. It was that he chose not to discuss the still-volatile Hormuz situation publicly during interviews he framed around Graham’s death. The issue remained highly sensitive because Iran had again declared the Strait closed, oil prices were rising, and the previous June agreement had already collapsed. The refusal also drew criticism because Graham’s death and the Iran crisis were closely linked politically and strategically. Graham had long pushed for a hard line on Iran, and critics argued that avoiding the subject on a day of renewed diplomacy and market turmoil left major public questions unanswered.

3 articles · Updated · Common Dreams · Jul 12

Trump twice refused on July 12 to engage questions about the Strait of Hormuz, telling NBC and CNN to stop asking while insisting it was “open as far as we’re concerned.”
The exchanges exposed a live contradiction: Iran says the strait is closed, while US Central Command says it remains open, leaving the status of a key global oil shipping lane disputed.
Trump first cited the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham as the reason he would not discuss the issue, then cut off a second question from CNN’s Jake Tapper with “Don’t talk about it.”
The renewed uncertainty follows a slump in traffic after a June US-Iran memorandum briefly improved flows, and comes after earlier closures helped drive up oil and gasoline prices.