Washington: Trump said this week that talks with Iran were on hold as the war started by the US and Israel in February appears stalemated, while Tehran is keeping the key Strait of Hormuz partially shut. Trumps pledge on Wednesday of unprecedented "economic warfare" on Iran comes as the president grows increasingly frustrated with the lack of movement on the military front.
According to France24.com, in a post on his Truth Social platform, the US leader said he was announcing "the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY! This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale." But the US is also buttressing its military presence in the region. A new US aircraft carrier strike group arrived in the Middle East on Wednesday, after grim conditions aboard a long-deployed carrier provoked fresh domestic criticism of Trumps war.
The USS George Washington is replacing the USS Abraham Lincoln, which had reportedly suffered food shortages, broken plumbing and a number of suicide attempts during a deployment that began in November 2025. The United States meanwhile on Thursday approved a potential $4.5 billion sale of refuelling aircraft to Qatar, which has acted as a mediator in Washingtons war with Iran.