Trump warns Iran blockade could last months, sending oil soaring

US officials contend they do not know who is speaking for Iran, whether it is the hardline and increasingly empowered Revolutionary Guards or diplomats, after Israeli strikes killed a series of top leaders.

The UN Development Programme warned that the war, which has also seen the price of fertiliser soaring, could plunge more than 30 million people into poverty in 160 countries. 

“It’s development in reverse,” UNDP chief Alexander De Croo told AFP.

Despite the defiance of the cleric-run state, the Iranian rial fell to historic lows against the dollar.

Tehran residents speaking to AFP journalists in Paris reported a sense of despair.

“Every time in recent years that negotiations have taken place, the economic situation of the people has only gotten worse. Sanctions have either started or intensified,” a 52-year-old architect told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.  

“They go to negotiate and come back with even more sanctions, and the issue is always nuclear. There’s no talk about people, the economy or freedom. People have the right to not even want to hear the word ‘negotiation’,” he said.

“NO TRUST”

An Iranian army spokesman said Tuesday that “we do not consider the war to be over”, saying Tehran had “no trust in America”.

“We have many cards that we have not yet used,” Amir Akraminia told state television.

Iran has proposed easing its chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz as Washington lifts its blockade and broader negotiations take place. The Trump administration has viewed the proposal sceptically.

Iran’s speaker of parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has emerged as a key figure since the start of the war, said on Wednesday the US naval blockade of the country aimed to create division and “make us collapse from within”.

He said 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 reported. He called for unity in response.