President Donald Trump on Thursday revealed what he described as a “present” from Iran during negotiations to end the war, saying the gesture involved multiple oil tankers moving through a critical shipping route.
“You know I told you about a present, right?” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting. “They said, to show you the fact that we're real and solid and we're there, we're going to let you have eight boats of oil, eight boats, eight big boats of oil … and it ended up being 10 boats.”
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Trump said the tankers traveled through the Strait of Hormuz and framed the move as a sign Iran was serious about negotiations. He also claimed Iran is "begging to make a deal."
Earlier in the Cabinet meeting, Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, said the United States had presented Iran with a 15-point plan he described as a framework for a peace deal. He said the proposal was delivered through Pakistani intermediaries.
Iran has previously said it rejected the plan, which would require it to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
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Other key U.S. priorities include preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and halting uranium enrichment. Trump declined to say whether the U.S. is considering entering Iran to secure its uranium.
However, he has not ruled out deploying ground troops if a ceasefire is not reached.
Scripps News has learned from an official with knowledge of the matter that elements of the 82nd Airborne Division, including its headquarters and support units, are deploying to the Middle East.
