Reports Suggest That Tehran Is Discussing a Bill Barring US and Israeli Vessels From Passing the Strait of Hormuz

Trump is caught in an "escalation trap" in Iran war: Analysis. United States President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday that he believes the war on Iran is nearing an end, promising that petrol prices will drop when the conflict is over. Citing an unnamed lawmaker, Iran’s Fars news agency reported that an Iranian parliamentary committee is reviewing a preliminary bill that would bar US, Israeli and other “hostile” vessels from transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

On Thursday, Iran and Oman said they had agreed on coordinates for shipping routes through the strait, whose closure has triggered a global energy crisis. The two are currently engaged in talks to resolve disagreements between the US and Iran over how the strait should be controlled. It is hoped that once these are resolved, broader peace talks between the US and Iran can continue.

Of the war with Iran, he told reporters in the Oval Office: “I think it’s going to end pretty soon. I don’t think they can go much longer. He added that he is involved in negotiations with Tehran.

I think we’re doing fine, Trump said. Iran has denied it is holding direct talks with the US, however, saying it is speaking solely to Oman about control of the Strait of Hormuz. On Saturday last week, Trump cancelled a planned large-scale military attack on Iran, claiming that Tehran and other countries in the region had asked the US to call off the strikes as a diplomatic breakthrough was close.

He reacted angrily this week to US media reports that the US may, in fact, be running low on weapons in the region. Michael Stephens, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said that for months, reports have been that the US was running low on its interceptors and would continue to do so if the war continued. The fact is it’s more dangerous for US military personnel to operate in the region as a result of these missile shortages.

It’s putting strain on other commands in East Asia as well, so the problem is very acute, Stephens told Al Jazeera. Trump has been asserting for months that Iran has already been defeated and that the conflict is on the verge of ending. Iranian officials, however, have emphasised that they are prepared for a long war.

Over the course of the war, Trump has repeated a pattern of threatening a major attack on Iran, before walking back on the threat and saying a deal is imminent. On April 7, Trump threatened that a whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if Iran did not open the Strait of Hormuz. When two hours were left of Trump’s ultimatum, he rescinded the threat, instead announcing a two-week ceasefire.

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told Al Jazeera on Monday that Trump’s repeated escalations and then cancellations of attacks on Iran have harmed prospects for a negotiated settlement to the war. I think this has become somewhat of a tiresome pattern, he said. At some point, all credibility for negotiations is going to be lost.

The credibility of actually sticking to a deal is questionable. The credibility of any incentives that are offered is questionable. And obviously, the credibility of the threats is degraded.

Furthermore, experts say that even if the management of the Strait of Hormuz is resolved, this will not spell the end of the US-Iran war. Talks for that will have to restart.