On Monday evening, April 13, during a dinner with Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima, US President Donald Trump expressed his desire to end the war in Iran as quickly as possible, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing officials.
The only way to bring Tehran back to the negotiating table, Trump explained to the royal couple and Dutch officials, is to increase pressure, the newspaper's sources reported.
The Dutch government had previously refused to cooperate with the US leader in blocking Iranian ports. Prime Minister Rob Jeten told the White House that European allies would form an international coalition to secure the Strait of Hormuz, but only after the fighting ends. Yeten noted that the dinner "was too short to convince each other, but long enough to better understand the other side's positions."
According to the newspaper, although the US president promised to announce "other countries" that would participate in the blockade, none of them had volunteered, and many had refused altogether. A few days later, the promised list of participating countries had still not appeared.
"The blockade is being implemented flawlessly and without assistance from other countries because we have the most powerful navy in the world, and the Iranian navy is at the bottom of the sea," White House press secretary Caroline Levitt said at the time.
Trump is demanding that Iran hand over its enriched uranium and commit to freezing its enrichment for at least 20 years. In response, Tehran has offered a five-year deadline and wants the uranium to remain there.
Despite Trump’s statements that the war will soon be over, some officials and analysts believe it could take months or even longer for Iran to feel the economic impact of the blockade sufficiently to back down in negotiations. Trump has agreed to maintain the blockade for as long as necessary, but believes Tehran is close to a deal.
A senior U.S. official told the Wall Street Journal that the U.S. Navy could maintain the blockade for a long time. But the Pentagon fears that doing so would put additional strain on U.S. warships and weaken the U.S. presence in other regions where U.S. naval power is needed, such as the Pacific.
According to Trump administration officials, Vice President J.D. Vance is set to travel to Pakistan again this week for further talks with the Iranians, although a final decision has not yet been made. Vance will be accompanied for the second time by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, the sources said.
Some American officials believe that the current Iranian leadership is unlikely to give up its nuclear ambitions, even if it means economic collapse. They also noted that since the US and Israeli bombings, the vacuum left in the country’s leadership is being filled by other hardliners who show little interest in compromise. Senior Trump administration officials disagree, arguing that Iran’s economy was crippled by decades of sanctions and corruption even before the war and US blockade. They also say China and Pakistan are pushing the country to reach a deal that would end the war and ease pressure on global energy markets.
The US approach, "based on threats, pressure and military action", will only worsen the situation, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said. He added that Tehran would only continue negotiations if "the rights of the Iranian people are protected".