Trump weighs Iran strike option as diplomatic deadlock deepens

Donald Trump. Pic/AFP

US President Donald Trump is about to take a critical decision on Iran, with his top aides making plans to resume air strikes if he chooses to break the diplomatic deadlock through military force. Trump has just returned from China. Other nations are trying to broker a compromise that would reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz and allow Trump to claim a political victory ahead of the US election, but he has remained firm.

China is Tehran's key strategic partner, relying heavily on energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. PICS/PTI

"I looked at it, and if I don't like the first sentence I just throw it away," Trump said after leaving Beijing as he dismissed Iran's latest peace proposal. The US and China have agreed that "Iran can't have nuclear weapons" and that the Strait of Hormuz must be opened, Trump said.

"I have a lot of respect for him [Chinese President Xi Jinping]. On Iran, he feels strongly that they can't have a nuclear weapon, said that very strongly, they can't have a nuclear weapon, and he wants them to open up the strait. But as he said, they close it and you close them. And it's true, we (the US) control the strait, and they (Iran) have done no business in the last two and a half weeks, which is approximately USD 500 million a day," Trump said.

Iran announces a hit job reward for Trump

Fresh controversy has erupted after Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Azizi reportedly announced that Iran's parliament is reviewing a proposal that would reward anyone who kills US President Donald Trump.

Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Azizi. PIC/X@RyanRozbiani

Iranian opposition news outlet Iran International reported that according to Azizi, who heads the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, lawmakers drafted several new measures following the March war, including a bill titled "Counter-Action by the Military and Security Forces of the Islamic Republic."

Azizi said the proposed legislation would require the Iranian government to pay Euro 50 million (R550 CR) to any "natural or legal person" who carries out what he described as a "religious and ideological mission" against the US President.

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