Washington - Russian President Vladimir Putin warned his US counterpart against “damaging consequences” of a new military action in Iran, a Kremlin aide told reporters after the two leaders spoke by phone.
Putin “highlighted the inevitable and extremely damaging consequences not only for Iran and its neighbors, but also for the entire international community, should the US and Israel resort to military action once again,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
US President Trump on Wednesday told Axios he is going to keep Iran under a naval blockade until the regime agrees to a deal addressing US concerns about its nuclear program. Trump is rejecting an Iranian proposal to first open the Strait of Hormuz and lift the blockade while postponing nuclear talks to a later stage. US Central Command (CENTCOM) has prepared a plan for a “short and powerful” wave of strikes on Iran to break the negotiating deadlock, three sources with knowledge said. After the strikes, which would likely include infrastructure targets, the US would press the regime to return to the negotiating table and show more flexibility.
Also on Wednesday, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that the Islamic Republic “can’t get their act together” and “better get smart soon.” “They don’t know how to sign a non-nuclear deal,” the president wrote, apparently referring to a deal to address the nation’s nuclear program and rule out development of a nuclear weapon.
Trump told Axios he saw the blockade as “somewhat more effective than the bombing,” and sources said he had yet to order any kinetic action as of Tuesday night. He posted an AI-generated meme of himself holding a gun with a warning to Iran and the tagline, “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY.” For now, Trump sees continuing the blockade as his primary source of leverage, but would consider military action if Iran still refuses to yield, according to sources. He declined to discuss military plans in Wednesday’s phone interview, which lasted about 15 minutes.
“The blockade is somewhat more effective than the bombing. They are choking like a stuffed pig. And it is going to be worse for them. They can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told Axios. He claimed that Iran wants a deal to lift the blockade. “They want to settle. They don’t want me to keep the blockade. I don’t want to [lift the blockade], because I don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump added. The US president added that Iran’s oil storage and pipelines “are getting close to exploding” because Iran cannot export oil due to the blockade. Some analysts doubt that Iran is in immediate danger on that front.
A senior Iranian security source quoted by English-language state media PRESS TV said on Wednesday the US naval blockade “will soon be met with practical and unprecedented action.” The source added Iran’s armed forces have shown restraint to give diplomacy a chance and provide Trump with an opportunity to end the war, but stressed Iran’s armed forces “believe that patience has limits and that a punishing response is necessary” if the blockade continues.
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump held a phone call on Wednesday in which the Russian leader put forward ideas on resolving the conflict over Iran’s nuclear program and proposed a temporary Ukraine ceasefire to mark the anniversary of the end of World War Two next month, a Kremlin aide said.
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has emerged as a figurehead since the start of the Middle East war, said the United States’ naval blockade of the country aimed to create division and “make us collapse from within.” He said US President Donald Trump “divides the country into two groups: hardliners and moderates, and then immediately talks about a naval blockade to force Iran into submission through economic pressure and internal discord,” state TV reports. With the killing of numerous Iranian leaders by US-Israeli strikes, including supreme leader Ali Khamenei, there has been widespread speculation over the balance of power within the Islamic republic.
Trump said earlier this month that the government of Iran was “seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so.” Ghalibaf, a powerful figure, has grown in prominence since the start of the war and was the lead negotiator in the so far only round of direct US-Iranian talks. “The enemy has entered a new phase and wants to activate economic pressure and internal division through naval blockade and media hype to weaken or even make us collapse from within,” he says. He calls for “maintaining unity” as the only solution.
Meanwhile, US President Trump on Wednesday said he asked Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call for a ceasefire in Ukraine and also discussed the US war against Iran. Trump said Putin offered to help with “enrichment,” presumably in reference to the idea that Russia could take about 1,000 pounds of enriched uranium, the fuel needed for a nuclear weapon, from Iran. Russia recently discussed with Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the possibility of removing Iran’s highly enriched uranium from the country.
“We talked more about the war in Ukraine, but he’d like to be of help [with Iran] — I said before you help, we want to end your war,” Trump said of Putin’s offer. The president addressed reporters in the Oval Office while hosting the astronauts of the Artemis II space mission. Trump said he asked Putin for a “little bit of a ceasefire” in Ukraine. Yury Ushakov, an aide to Putin, told Russian news agency TASS that Putin proposed a ceasefire during “Victory Day” celebrations, the May 9 holiday in Russia that commemorates the 1945 Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. Putin had earlier agreed to a 32-hour ceasefire in April during the Orthodox Easter holiday, but Moscow and Kyiv each accused the other of violations.
An official with the office of the president of Ukraine said the details of what was discussed must be clarified before responding to Putin’s and Trump’s remarks. Trump said he viewed the US war against Iran and Russia’s war against Ukraine on similar timelines toward ending. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Putin has made demands for ending the war contingent on Ukraine handing over territory and recognizing Russia’s occupation of such territory.
The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday reported Trump is signaling he wants to maintain the US blockade against Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. While the US is blocking Iranian oil tankers and commercial vessels from exiting the strait, Iran has held global shipping hostage by threatening to attack ships that do not coordinate with its military in transiting the strait. “They have to cry uncle, that’s all they have to do,” Trump said of Iran. “Just say, ‘We give up. We give up.’ But their economy is really in trouble.” Escalating gas prices have put pressure on Trump to end the war in a midterm election year where the GOP majorities in the House and Senate are on the line.
