Renewed U.S.-Iran Hormuz Clashes Muddle Deal Talks as Trump Says Tehran 'Negotiating on Fumes'

JERUSALEM, Israel – Fresh fighting overnight in the Middle East has pushed the Iran negotiations to the edge after U.S. forces launched strikes in response to Iranian drone attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. action came on Wednesday when the Tehran regime sent drones targeting commercial and American vessels.  

Iran sent 4 one-way attack drones before American fighter jets shot them down and struck a drone control station near the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

At a Wednesday cabinet meeting, President Trump said that months of pressure and military setbacks have left the regime negotiating from a position of weakness.

"Everything's gone, and they're negotiating on fumes," the president remarked. "But we'll see what happens. Maybe we have to go back and finish it. Maybe we don't." 

Emboldened by strong showings from Trump-backed candidates in the Texas primary runoff elections on Tuesday, Trump rejected claims that midterm election politics is shaping his negotiating strategy.

Concerning Tehran's decision-making, he stated, “They thought they were going to outwait me, you know, we'll outwait him. 'He's got the midterms.' I don't care about the midterms. Look what happened last night.” 

The president also increased pressure on the Gulf nations to join the Abraham Accords, warning that their decision on a signature could shape any future deal with Iran. 

He said, "I'm not sure we should make the deal if they don't sign. You want to know the truth..." 

Meanwhile, speaking in Israel at the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast, Israeli Knesset member Ohad Tal cautioned that there can be no deal with Iran's current regime.

"And any negotiation and any peace deal with Iran that will basically keep the Iranian regime in its place only means delaying the war. .. We understand that this regime –  the whole essence of its existence – is to destroy Israel," Tal insisted.

He also warned that ignoring growing threats in the region would carry dangerous consequences.

"Friends, the Bible teaches us that evil does not disappear when it's ignored. We must stand up against it and fight," he exhorted.

At the same gathering, Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli praised evangelical Christians for their strong support of Israel.

He observed, "This movement is so connected to Israel, so connected to the Bible, so connected to Jerusalem. And this is like the extended family of us, the Jewish people."