US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (April 28) that Iran has told Washington it is in a “state of collapse” and is asking the United States to reopen the Strait of Hormuz while it works out its leadership situation.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “Iran has just informed us that they are in a ‘State of Collapse.’ They want us to ‘Open the Hormuz Strait,’ as soon as possible, as they try to figure out their leadership situation (Which I believe they will be able to do!)”
It was not clear from the post how Iran had communicated the message, and there was no immediate comment from Tehran. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the social media post.
Separately, a US official told Reuters that Trump is unhappy with Iran’s latest proposal for resolving the two-month war, dampening hopes of a near-term breakthrough. The conflict has disrupted global energy supplies, fuelled inflation across importing economies and killed thousands of people.
The signal lands on the same day that the United Arab Emirates announced it will leave OPEC and OPEC+ from May 1, and as India’s three largest carriers warned New Delhi that the airline industry is “on the verge of stopping operations” because of Hormuz-driven fuel costs. For Sri Lanka, a net importer dependent on the Hormuz route, any actual reopening of the strait would ease the premium on crude shipments routed via the Indian Ocean and reduce pressure on the rupee. Trump’s stated dissatisfaction with Tehran’s proposal, however, signals no immediate resolution.
