Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Iran on Wednesday mocked US President Donald Trump’s claim of “new regime” in Tehran as an “April Fools'” joke and denied his remarks that Tehran had sought a ceasefire, calling it “false and baseless.““On April Fools’ Day, it’s almost poetic that Donald #Trump still manages to outdo the jokes; talking about a “new” #Iran #president when Dr Pezeshkian has been in office all along,” the Consulate General of Iran in Mumbai said in a post on X.“Reality check: presidents aren’t replaced by tweets… that’s what elections are for,” it added.Separately, Iran’s foreign ministry firmly rejected Trump’s assertion that Tehran had requested a ceasefire. “Trump’s statements about Iran’s request for a ceasefire are false and baseless,” spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei was quoted as saying by state television.
Trump’s claim and warning
The response came hours after Trump said Iran had approached the US for a ceasefire and that Washington would consider it only if the Strait of Hormuz was reopened.In a post on Truth Social, he wrote, “Iran’s New Regime President, much less Radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors, has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE!”“We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!”Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Azizi also warned earlier that access to the Strait would be restricted under new rules, signalling continued tensions over the key waterway.The ongoing conflict has significantly disrupted global energy markets. The Strait of Hormuz through which nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies pass, has been effectively choked, fueling fears of a broader economic fallout.In the United States, average gas prices crossed $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022, with analysts warning that higher fuel costs could soon push up prices of everyday goods.Even as tensions remain high, Trump has offered mixed signals on the duration of the conflict. In an interview, he said the US would exit Iran “quickly” but did not provide a timeline, adding that Washington could monitor Iran’s nuclear sites “by satellite.”Earlier this week, he also said fuel prices would “come tumbling down” once the war ends a move he suggested could happen within “two to three weeks.”Trump is expected to deliver what the White House described as “an important update on Iran” in a speech later on Wednesday in Washington, as pressure mounts domestically over the conflict and its economic impact.
