Trump Claims Iran Talks Ongoing, Seeks Strait of Hormuz Opening by Tomorrow

By Song Sang-ho WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump claimed Monday that talks with Iran are in progress, stressing that the two sides are discussing the reopening of the crucial Strait of Hormuz "literally" by the following day, although Tehran earlier denied any plans for negotiations with Washington.

Trump made the remarks during a press availability at the White House, warning that the new round of negotiations would be the "last chance" for the Islamic Republic.

"(The talks with Iran) are going on right now," he said, claiming that for some reason, the Iranian side does not like saying they were in negotiations with the United States "even though they spent hours and hours together talking."

In a social media post earlier in the day, Trump criticized the Iranian leadership as "duplicitous" as they denied Tehran was in talks with Washington.

Trump highlighted that the fresh round of peace talks with Washington would be a "last chance" for Tehran to "sign a good document."

Asked if he had any message for the American people about having held off on threatened strikes on Iran multiple times before, Trump said, "I want to give them every last chance before decapitation."

The president pointed out that the opening of the Strait of Hormuz is under discussion.

He described the "complete" opening of the waterway as the "first phase" and the discussions on Iran's nuclear program as the "second phase."

"We are talking about the strait -- the opening of the strait, having it open literally by tomorrow, completely open, and that's Phase 1," he said.

"Phase 2 is we then will talk about the nuclear capacity ... Basically ... the denuclearization of Iran has to happen ... They cannot have a nuclear weapon."

Trump reiterated that he will not allow Iran to charge a fee on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

"I am not going to let them charge," he said, stressing that the U.S. has "total" control of the waterway through its naval blockade, which he dubbed the "U.S. wall of steel."

"No, there's not going to be charging. We are not talking about charging at all. There won't be charging," he said.

The reopening of the strait has been a key issue that South Korea and other countries have been closely watching given that they rely heavily on the waterway for energy imports.