WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said late on Wednesday that American forces deployed near Iran would remain stationed in the area until a "real agreement" is reached, as Washington enters a fragile two-week ceasefire with Tehran.
The truce reached Tuesday showed signs of unravelling, with Israel bombarding Lebanon and Washington contradicting some of Iran's demands to end the war ahead of planned talks.
"All US Ships, Aircraft, and Military Personnel, with additional Ammunition, Weaponry, and anything else that is appropriate and necessary for the lethal prosecution and destruction of an already substantially degraded Enemy, will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
While he said a deal falling through was "highly unlikely", Trump threatened to revert to "bigger, and better, and stronger" strikes if an agreement was not reached.
"In the meantime our great Military is Loading Up and Resting, looking forward, actually, to its next Conquest. AMERICA IS BACK!" Trump wrote.
Iran agreed to reopen the vital thoroughfare during the two-week truce, but said it would maintain "dominion" over it. The Strait of Hormuz is a key chokepoint through which one-fifth of the world's oil passes in peacetime.
In a Farsi-language release of demands circulated by Iranian state media, the Islamic republic also insisted that Washington accept its uranium enrichment programme.
That was not included in Iran's demands released via the UN, and Trump has said the matter of enrichment would be "taken care of" in any deal.
Ahead of planned negotiations in Pakistan, Trump said Iran will have "no nuclear weapons" and the "Strait of Hormuz WILL BE OPEN & SAFE."