Bessent said<\/a><\/span> sanctions and naval-blockade efforts have severed the Islamic Republic from global markets, accelerating domestic economic distress, soaring inflation, long lines for fuel and the collapse of the Iranian rial.<\/p>\n\u201cThe goal here is to create the conditions that they will want to come to the table, and the president\u2019s been very clear: They have to give up their nuclear program, they have to turn over the highly enriched uranium, they have to stop their support of proxies and the strait has to be open,\u201d said Bessent.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, my experience with people like this, the main thing they care about is their head staying attached to their neck,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Bessent said on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz could largely lose its strategic leverage within two years as energy exports increasingly shift to overland pipelines, noting the administration is actively working to secure critical nodes in global supply chains.<\/p>\n
However, Trump said on Wednesday that he is not trying to force Iran back to negotiations, rejecting an ABC News<\/i> report and saying he prefers Washington\u2019s current position.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social.<\/p>\n
He also renewed his call for internal opposition to Iran\u2019s leadership, asking: \u201cWhen are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?\u201d<\/p>\n
Israeli envoy: Regime collapse \u2018soon\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n
Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said that although Iran has been defeated militarily, \u201cthere\u2019s just a little bit of a time lapse until it actually collapses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump \u201chas led an incredible effort to bring this regime down; I think it\u2019s going to happen soon,\u201d Leiter said in an interview on the \u201cScott Jennings Show\u201d posted on X on Monday.<\/p>\n
The ambassador likened Iran\u2019s current trajectory to the Soviet Union in the 1980s, when outside observers could not pinpoint the exact date of its fall, but former U.S. President Ronald Reagan \u201csaw it coming. He knew that it was the end of that evil empire. It was just a matter of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Katz: Israel ready to strike Iran<\/b><\/p>\n
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that Israel is prepared to strike Iran and would respond \u201cwith great force\u201d to any Iranian attack on the Jewish state.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe prime minister and I are in daily contact with the IDF, sometimes in the middle of the night via the red phone. We do not take any piece of information lightly. We do not want to be caught by surprise; we are prepared,\u201d Katz said, according to Ynet<\/i>.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt must be understood: The IDF, including the Air Force, is prepared to strike in Iran. If they attack us, we will respond with great force, independently of anyone else,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the \u201cDecision Time: Democracy and Society\u201d conference organized by Ynet<\/i> and Yedioth Ahronoth<\/i> in collaboration with the Israel Democracy Institute, Katz warned that Iran could target Israel during the upcoming Jewish holiday season.<\/p>\n
Tehran \u201clikes to attack on Jewish holidays because they hate Jews,\u201d he said, while stressing that Israel is prepared \u201cin defense and in attack\u201d and that its aircraft are ready to take off if the country comes under fire.<\/p>\n
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