Trump says Iran will surrender, renames AI "Super Intelligence"; Ghalibaf warns of regional oil halt

Tension between the United States and Iran is growing more serious by the day. Verbal exchanges and threats of war over the Strait of Hormuz have reached a peak. US President Donald Trump has now made a bold and aggressive claim that Iran will soon admit defeat and surrender to the United States.

Trump said this to reporters after a special meeting with the CEOs of major American technology companies. "Iran will now back down and will have to accept defeat. In the last few days, American forces and agencies have extracted and transported more crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz than in any period in history," he said. The statement has caused a stir in the international oil market and in political circles.

At the same meeting, Trump also signed an executive order. Under the order, artificial intelligence (AI) has been officially renamed Super Intelligence (SI) in the United States. Trump made clear that from now on only the term Super Intelligence (SI) will be used in place of AI in all US government documents, policies and correspondence. He said the United States is the world leader in technology and is strengthening its hold in this new era, and that the decision to rename it was taken to show this.

Iran responded sharply and immediately to Trump's claims. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf issued an open warning to the United States and its allies in a public video conference. "The American President's statements on the Strait of Hormuz are misleading and merely repeat old claims. The truth behind these false claims has now been exposed to the world," Ghalibaf said.

Ghalibaf went on to threaten war directly. "If Iran's security is not assured and Iran is not allowed to sell its oil, no country in this entire region (West Asia) will be able to sell its oil. If Iran's security is threatened, no infrastructure in this region will remain safe," he said. His direct warning has deepened fears of war in the Gulf countries.

While sharp rhetoric and the language of war continue on both sides, efforts at talks are also under way behind the scenes through international mediators. A senior US official said President Trump is ready to lift the economic sanctions on Iran and release Iranian funds frozen in the United States under a final agreement.

However, the United States has set a stiff condition. Tehran must show concrete and transparent progress on its nuclear programme, and only then will the sanctions be lifted. Mediating countries are working day and night to bring both sides back to the negotiating table. But Trump has rejected Iran's recent proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. With this, any peace deal looks difficult until the nuclear dispute is settled for good.