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Iran Supreme Leader mocks 'desperate' Trump as US President changes tone on naval blockade

Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has taunted Donald Trump as 'desperate' after accepting a peace deal to end the three-month conflict

[US President Donald Trump speaks about the conflict in Iran in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on April 6, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)]

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Donald Trump's deal has been criticised by many in his own Republican Party(Image: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI, AFP via Getty Images)

Irans Supreme Leader has taunted Donald Trump over his desperate push to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, sneering at the expresident as he signed a peace deal seen as heavily stacked in Tehrans favour.

The move ends the war and forces the US to lift its naval blockade of the strategic chokepoint. "As you have been informed, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the presidents of Iran and the United States of America," Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement on Thursday, the Mirror reports.

"In the course of reaching this stage, the officials in charge, out of sincere concern and goodwill, made extensive efforts-and of course, it was the American president who, out of desperation, used all kinds of leverage to bring this about."

[An official portrait featuring an individual with a beard and glasses, standing in front of the national flag of Iran, with a somber expression.]

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Iran's Supreme Leader has mocked Donald Trump's 'desperation' to re-open the Strait of Hormuz (Image: YAHYA ARHAB/EPA/Shutterstock)

Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian put pen to paper on the interim agreement on Wednesday, drawing a close to the three-month conflict.

A social media post by US Central Command subsequently confirmed it would cease blockading maritime traffic entering and exiting the Strait of Hormuz, while Vice President JD Vance informed reporters that 12.5 million barrels of oil traversed the Strait on Wednesday.

The US Navy presently maintains more than a dozen vessels, including two aircraft carriers, in the waters surrounding Iran.

Central Command said that US Navy ships "will remain in the general area to make sure that all aspects of the agreement are adhered to, obeyed and in full force and effect."

Elsewhere in his message, Khamenei revealed that while he "held a different view" to the Iranian president regarding how to handle Trump, he was persuaded to approve the peace agreement after receiving assurances from Pezeshkian that "if the American side seeks to make excessive demands, they will not submit to them.

"From this moment on, we-that is, you, the proud nation, and this humble servant-will await the realization of the aforementioned conditions," he added.

[An image of a large cargo ship navigating through calm waters, with a smaller vessel visible in the background under a cloudy sky.]

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Ships are able to enter Iranian ports(Image: AP Photo/Amirhosein Khorgooi)

The Trump administration has faced criticism from prominent figures within their own Republican party regarding the deal. However, Vance encouraged them to "have a little bit of faith in the president of the United States.

"The idea that he is going to strike a deal that's bad for the American people, it's preposterous" Vance said. Vance stressed that the administration must continue to clarify the deal to the American public.

"I think that when people get to understand not just the agreement, our negotiating posture as a country, they will realize this is an excellent thing for the American people," Vance said. "That's part of our job. We've got to tell the story about what this means for Americans."

According to the agreement, Iran will immediately take measures to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and will be permitted to sell its oil without restrictions. Iran is also expected to receive at least $300 billion for reconstruction following the war, while steps will be taken to lift all American and United Nations sanctions previously imposed on Tehran.

The US and Israel went to war on February 28 in part to prevent Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon, although Trump's goals in the conflict have repeatedly shifted. The interim deal halts the fighting before that objective is achieved and instead opens a two-month window for nuclear negotiations, appearing to hand Iran several concessions upfront while extracting very little in return.

Former Vice President during Trump's first term, Mike Pence, told CNN that he believes the peace deal with Iran is "much bigger than a mistake," calling it a "deeply ill-advised" act of "appeasement."

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Meanwhile, Israeli analyst Danny Citrinowicz described the agreement as a strategic "catastrophe". What had been portrayed as a joint US-Israeli campaign to weaken, or even topple, the Islamic Republic has, in his view, transformed into American recognition of Iran.

"We went to topple the regime with US backing and ended with Washington effectively giving legitimacy and strengthening the same regime we wanted to bring down," said Citrinowicz, a senior Iran researcher at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies.

He argues the deal delivers none of Israel's core demands: no curbs on Iran's missile programme or proxies and no clear path to dismantling its nuclear facilities. Even Israel's campaign in Lebanon has been constrained by the ceasefire framework imposed at Iran's insistence.

The consequences are both political and strategic in nature. The agreement undermines Netanyahu's position on Iran and reveals the limitations of his influence with a US president widely regarded as a close ally of Israel.

"Israel has been isolated, after this war, both in the region and in the world," said one Iranian official, who declined to be named. "Iran got what it wanted...We did not abandon our friends, such as Hezbollah, rather, we were even prepared to go to the extent of walking away from the table and returning to war because of them," added another.

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