‘Present’ that Trump said Iran gave US was safe passage of several fuel tankers through Hormuz — officials tell ToI

The “present” that US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Iran gave Washington was allowing the safe passage of a number of fuel tankers through the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, a senior Arab diplomat and a US official tell The Times of Israel.

In trying to explain his decision to pursue talks with Iran, Trump told reporters that Tehran “did something yesterday that was amazing — they gave us a present…worth a tremendous amount of money… [it] arrived today.”

“They gave it to us, and they said they were going to give it. That meant one thing to me. [That we’re] dealing with the right people,” Trump said, declining to identify the gift beyond that it was oil and gas related and tied to the Strait of Hormuz.

The US official tells The Times of Israel that when the Trump administration began passing along messages to Iran through mediators over the weekend in order to test whether a diplomatic off-ramp to the war was possible, it asked Tehran to make a gesture of goodwill.

In response, Iran agreed to allow a number of fuel tankers that weren’t tied to the US or Israel through the Strait of Hormuz in order to help calm global markets, the Arab official says.

The Arab official acknowledges that the safe passage of a small number of tankers is not likely to have a significant or longterm impact on global oil prices, a concession that Iran is not yet prepared to offer while US and Israeli strikes continue.

The limited impact of the “present” explains why Trump avoided specifying exactly what it was, the Arab official says.

Asked for comment, the White House refers The Times of Israel to press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s comments on the matter during a Wednesday press briefing.

Leavitt said then that the US is tracking “very closely” how to get oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, without commenting further on the nature of the “present” described by Trump.