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Iran is pushing back on President Donald Trump’s claim that it requested a ceasefire, with an official calling the statement “false and baseless. in a blunt public denial.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, made the remarks rejecting Trump’s claim on Wednesday, according to a report on Iranian state television.
Trump made the claim about Iran requesting a ceasefire in a Wednesday morning Truth Social post. But the president indicated that the U.S. will only entertain the prospect once the Strait of Hormuz is open for ships.
“Iran’s New Regime President, much less Radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors, has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE! We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!” Trump asserted in the post.
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Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, however, issued its own statement saying the Strait of Hormuz “is firmly and decisively under the control” of its forces.
“This strait will not be opened to the enemies of this nation through the ridiculous spectacle by the president of the United States,” it said.
Iran has effectively shut the critical oil chokepoint, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil passes, sending oil prices soaring.
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U.S. gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 on Tuesday. Analysts say that high fuel costs will trickle into groceries as businesses’ transportation and packaging costs pile up.
Trump also told Reuters in a telephone interview ahead of his televised address Wednesday night that the U.S. would be finishing its war in Iran soon, but he wouldn’t give a timeline.
“I can’t tell you exactly … we’re going to be out pretty quickly,” he said.
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But once the U.S. leaves, he said “We’ll come back to do spot hits” on targets, as needed.
Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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