Iran's Supreme Leader taunts Trump's 'desperate' deal as US naval blockade lifted

Iran's Supreme Leader taunts Trump's 'desperate' deal as US naval blockade lifted Iran's Supreme Leader has called Donald Trump's deal with Iran "desperate" while the United States military announced that it had ended its blockade of ports Iran's Supreme Leader has mocked Donald Trump's 'desperation' to re-open the Strait of Hormuz as he accepted a peace deal to end the war and lift the ongoing US naval blockade on terms seen as highly favourable to the Islamic Republic. "As you have been informed, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the presidents of Iran and the United States of America," Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement on Thursday. "In the course of reaching this stage, the officials in charge, out of sincere concern and goodwill, made extensive efforts—and of course, it was the American president who, out of desperation, used all kinds of leverage to bring this about." Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed the interim deal on Wednesday, bringing an end to the three-month war. A social media post by US Central Command later confirmed that it would no longer blockade maritime traffic heading in and out of the Strait of Hormuz, while Vice President JD Vance told reporters that 12.5 million barrels of oil passed through the Strait on Wednesday. The US Navy currently has more than a dozen ships, including two aircraft carriers, in the the waters off Iran. Central Command said that US Navy ships “will remain in the general area to make sure that all aspects of the agreement are adhered to, obeyed and in full force and effect.” Elsewhere in his message, Khamenei said that while he "held a different view" to the Iranian president on how to deal with Trump, he was convinced to sign off on the peace deal after getting assurances from Pezeshkian that "if the American side seeks to make excessive demands, they will not submit to them. "From this moment on, we—that is, you, the proud nation, and this humble servant—will await the realization of the aforementioned conditions," he added. The Trump administration has received criticism from leading figures in their own Republican party over the deal. Vance, though, urged them to “have a little bit of faith in the president of the United States.” “The idea that he is going to strike a deal that’s bad for the American people, it’s preposterous” Vance said. Vance added that the administration has to continue to explain the deal to American people. “I think that when people get to understand not just the agreement, our negotiating posture as a country, they will realize this is an excellent thing for the American people,” Vance said. “That’s part of our job. We’ve got to tell the story about what this means for Americans.” Under the agreement Iran are to immediately take steps to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and will be allowed to sell its oil without restrictions. And Iran is expected to receive at least $300 billion to rebuild after the war while steps will also be made to end all American and United Nations sanctions imposed on Tehran. The US and Israel went to war on February 28 in part to prevent Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon, although Trump’s goals in the conflict have repeatedly shifted. The interim deal stops the war before that aim is secured and instead, it opens a two-month period for nuclear negotiations and appears to offer Iran several benefits up front while extracting little in return. Former Vice President, in Trump's first term, Mike Pence told CNN that he believes the peace deal with Iran is “much bigger than a mistake,” calling it a “deeply ill-advised” act of “appeasement.” While Israeli analyst Danny Citrinowicz described the agreement as a strategic "catastrophe". What had been framed as a joint U.S.-Israeli campaign to weaken, or even topple the Islamic Republic has, in his view, flipped into American recognition of Iran. "We went to topple the regime with US backing and ended with Washington effectively giving legitimacy and strengthening the same regime we wanted to bring down," said Citrinowicz, a senior Iran researcher at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies. He says the deal delivers none of Israel's core demands: no curbs on Iran's missile programme or proxies and no clear path to dismantling its nuclear facilities. Even Israel's campaign in Lebanon has been constrained by the ceasefire framework imposed at Iran's insistence. The fallout is both political and strategic. The deal undercuts Netanyahu's narrative on Iran and exposes the limits of his leverage with a US president seen as closely aligned with Israel. "Israel has been isolated, after this war, both in the region and in the world," said one Iranian official, who declined to be named. "Iran got what it wanted...We did not abandon our friends, such as Hezbollah, rather, we were even prepared to go to the extent of walking away from the table and returning to war because of them," added another.