US president Donald Trump on Saturday reiterated his threat to attack Iran's electric power infrastructure if the country does not allow unfettered passage through the strait of Hormuz.
In a social media post at 8am ET, Trump referenced his 26 March decision to hold off on the attacks until 6 April to allow purported negotiations to continue. There is little indication that the sides have come close to an agreement in the intervening days.
"Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT," Trump wrote in the post Saturday. "Time is running out — 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them. Glory be to GOD!"
Trump's renewed warning comes a day after two US warplanes were shot down over Iraq.
Traffic has increased through the strait of Hormuz in the past week as Iran has signaled willingness to allow transit by ships tied to nations not directly allied with the US and Israel. Two very large crude carriers (VLCC) carrying non-Iranian crude left the Mideast Gulf on 2 April, the first such shipments since the start of the war on 28 February. A range of other vessels passed through earlier last week.
Tanker traffic could pick up even further, as Iran on Saturday said it would exempt neighboring Iraq from restrictions on vessel passage through the strait.
"I declare that our brotherly country Iraq is exempt from any restrictions we have imposed in the Strait of Hormuz, and these restrictions apply only to enemy countries," according to a statement from a spokesman for Iran's military broadcast through the WANA News Agency in Tehran. "We have deep respect for Iraq's national sovereignty; you are a nation that still bears the marks of the American occupation, and your struggle against the United States is worthy of appreciation and praise."
Prior to the war, Iraq exported as much as 3.3mn b/d from its Basrah terminals for shipping through the strait of Hormuz. Throughout the first five weeks of fighting Iraq has maintained limited crude exports, with most volumes moving on the Iraq–Turkey pipeline and, to a lesser extent, on trucking through Syria and Jordan.
In mid-March Iraqi officials said they were in talks with Iran about resuming tanker transits.
