Qalibaf says Trump deleted Hormuz tweet after mediators’ request

Iranian Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator with the United States, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, has claimed that US President Donald Trump deleted part of a post about the Strait of Hormuz after mediators intervened.

Qalibaf said talks with the United States were suspended after a senior Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli strike in southern Beirut.

According to Iranian media, Qalibaf said the head of Hezbollah’s intelligence unit and his family members were killed in the latest Israeli attack in the Dahiyeh area of southern Beirut. He said Iran stopped the talks immediately after the incident.

He said Iran had made it clear that it would respond that same night and warned that if Israel retaliated, Iran would target the entire region.

Qalibaf said the blockade was lifted that night rather than 30 days after the agreement. He said Trump posted that the US would end the blockade that night but added that Iran would also open the Strait of Hormuz in return.

“When I saw this, I stopped it and said that we had no such agreement,” Qalibaf said.

He added that he told the mediators that the post had to be deleted immediately or Iran would launch an attack with the same intensity he had announced. According to Qalibaf, Trump deleted the second part of the post 58 minutes later and then wrote that the Strait of Hormuz would be opened on Saturday under the agreement.

Qalibaf described the negotiations as a form of struggle rather than ordinary talks.

According to the report, Iran’s naval blockade resumed several days later and remains in place.

Trump had also threatened the previous day to declare the Strait of Hormuz part of US territory. Iranian officials strongly criticized the statement.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said, “The Strait of Hormuz has always been Iranian, is Iranian today and will remain Iranian,” adding that it would be closed or opened only under Iran’s command.