President Donald Trump waves as he walks aboard Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, April 10, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
US President Donald Trump confirmed on Friday (local time) that the Strait of Hormuz “will open with or without Iran,” ahead of ceasefire talks with Tehran scheduled in Islamabad.Click here for live updatesTrump told reporters before his talks in the Pakistani capital, “I wish him success… They (Iran) were defeated militarily, and now we will open the Gulf, with or without them.”
He was referring to Vice President J.D. Vance, who leads the US delegation and is said to oppose a military campaign against Iran.
.“If it doesn’t happen, we’ll end it, one way or another, it’s going well,” Trump told reporters before the talks in the Pakistani capital. “The (Iranian) naval and air forces are gone, along with all the anti-aircraft systems, the commanders and the whole place. The Strait of Hormuz will open automatically… We’ll open it fairly soon.”Vance is accompanied by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law. The Iranian delegation is headed by Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Qalibaf.Trump also stated that he would not allow Tehran to impose transit fees on ships passing through the strait.He added: “No, we will not allow that. These are international waters. If they do that, we will not allow that to happen.”
Tehran has virtually closed the Strait of Hormuz — a critical sea passage between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman — in response to the US-Israeli strikes on February 28 that sparked the current conflict in the Middle East.Nearly 20% of the world’s crude oil supplies pass through the waterway, underscoring its global strategic importance.Meanwhile, Trump emphasized that there would be no need for a backup plan if truce discussions fail.The Republican commented: “I have to see what happens tomorrow. They (Iran) have been talking for 47 years with other presidents – and we don’t talk much. We don’t need a backup plan. Their army has been defeated, they have very few missiles, very little manufacturing capacity. We hit them hard. Our army has done a great job.” The current 14-day truce is already hanging by a thread due to ongoing Israeli attacks in Lebanon despite the ceasefire. Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese group, joined the war after the killing of then-Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the conflict.Israel says that the truce agreement does not include Lebanon.
