Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said in a meeting with Joseph Aoun, the president of Lebanon, at the White House that officials of the Islamic Republic are seeking talks with us out of desperation and helplessness, while we are not interested.

President Trump added: “We are hitting them [the Iranian regime] in a way that has never happened before.”

He also emphasized that the Islamic Republic’s maritime blockade is fully in place and that no passage through this “solid barrier” will be allowed.