Trump says US targeting Iran's Strait of Hormuz capabilities, keeps door open for deal

US President Donald Trump said Monday that American forces were destroying Iran's military capabilities related to the Strait of Hormuz and reinstating a blockade targeting the country while insisting that a diplomatic agreement with Tehran remains possible despite the escalating conflict.

"We're attacking them tonight, and we're taking out all of their capability for anything having to do with the Strait of Hormuz," Trump told reporters at the White House.

He also accused Iran of walking away from a potential agreement after negotiations had appeared to make progress.

"They made a deal. They broke it — probably 10 times — and they killed a lot of people...They've been negotiating for 47 years, but nobody has ever hit them militarily. We're hitting them very hard," he said.

Asked whether he believes a deal with Iran remains within reach, he replied: "Yeah, I think a deal is possible."

His remarks came as the US launched a third consecutive night of military strikes against Iran, with the White House saying operations were intended to degrade Tehran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping and regional security in the Strait of Hormuz.

The president said the US is "knocking out all of" Iran's offensive capability and claimed that the US is controlling the strait.

"We're putting the blockade back, and it's a blockade not for anybody but Iran. In other words, anybody doing business with Iran can't go through. Everyone else will be able to go through. So it's a blockade, a very strong blockade. The blockade was probably more effective even than hitting them, but I think the combination is the thing that that really does," he added.

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday that Tehran will remain the “guardian” of the Strait of Hormuz after Trump’s threat to impose fees on shipping in the strategic waterway.

Trump also said the US wants "to be reimbursed" for protecting countries "that we're helping" in the strait.

"I want to be reimbursed because we're protecting a very rich portion of the world. We're spending money, and so what we've done is we are going to be reimbursed for protection," he said, referring to Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain.

Regarding reports of Iranian drones in Cuba, Trump said "if they do have that, and they might very well have that, we'll take care of it."

"If they do have that, we'll take care of it in short order. We're not going to have a problem. We're not going to allow that to happen. So it could be that they're storing some. We're looking into it now. It could be so, and it maybe isn't, but we'll figure it out fast," he added.