Trump says shipping or maritime transit fees in a final Iran deal would be ‘unacceptable’
Trump said Wednesday that any final agreement with Iran allowing fees on shipping or maritime transit would be unacceptable
WASHINGTON, United States (MNTV) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that any final agreement with Iran allowing fees on shipping or maritime transit would be unacceptable to the United States, arguing that conceding such charges would invite similar demands elsewhere.
Speaking to reporters at the White House during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump was asked whether he would oppose a deal that permitted any form of charge on shipping or maritime activity.
He said he would not allow it, warning that granting it to Iran would force Washington to extend the same to others and describing the issue as a potential game changer.
He added that the U.S. was “doing great” in the negotiations.
The remarks come after Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian electronically signed a memorandum last week intended to clear a path to ending the war that the United States and Israel launched against Iran on Feb. 28.
Under the framework, the two sides are to negotiate for 60 days, with the option of an extension, toward a final agreement covering Iran’s nuclear program and international sanctions.
Pressed on the reported Feb. 28 U.S. strike on an elementary school in Minab, Iran — which killed more than 170 people, most of them schoolgirls — Trump said he had not seen a completed report and suggested responsibility may never be definitively assigned, citing the volume of missiles fired during the fighting.
He called the incident horrible but said he had seen nothing to convince him a U.S. missile was responsible, floating the possibility that the weapon belonged to someone else. He had earlier brushed off a similar question as strange given how much time had passed.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. had taken the investigation very seriously. Trump reiterated that he did not believe American forces were to blame. Several independent investigations, however, concluded that the United States was responsible for the widely condemned strike, pointing to evidence including a U.S. Tomahawk missile recovered at the site.
Trump has suggested Iran may have had access to U.S.-made missiles.
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