🔶 CNN: Trump’s shift toward Iran from military threat to economic pressure

🔶 CNN: Trump’s shift toward Iran from military threat to economic pressure

In response to Iran’s tightening of conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that Washington is conducting “quiet” talks with Tehran; an unusual phrasing that, according to CNN, indicates a change in his tone—from an overt military threat to anticipation and economic pressure.

In remarks to Axios over the weekend about the negotiations, Trump said: «We’re taking it forward quietly [low-keying it]. We’re negotiating with them, but only to a certain extent. We’re just watching Iran; with all that huge inflation and the fact that it doesn’t have money.»

The remarks came after Iran, in recent days, increased its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

CNN writes that, when speaking about negotiations with Iran, he used the term “low-keying” as a verb; as if he is saying the United States wants to take up the Iran file for now with less tension, behind-the-scenes pressure, and without any public display.