U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday (July 13) that the United States was attacking Iranian capabilities related to the Strait of Hormuz and would continue military operations, while maintaining that a negotiated settlement with Tehran remained possible.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said U.S. forces were targeting assets linked to the strategic waterway.

"We are attacking them tonight, and we're taking out all of their capability for anything having to do with the Strait, with the Hormuz Strait," Trump said.

He also said the United States was restoring a blockade aimed at Iran.

"We're controlling the Strait. We're putting the blockade back," Trump said, adding that countries doing business with Iran would not be allowed through, while others would continue to have access.

Despite the escalation, Trump said he had not ruled out a deal.

Trump also said he wanted Gulf nations to reimburse the United States for helping protect the Strait of Hormuz and regional security.

"We are going to be reimbursed for protection," he said, citing Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait among countries benefiting from U.S. efforts.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

1. U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SPEAKING AT WHITE HOUSE

2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, IN EXCHANGE WITH OFF-CAMERA REPORTER, SAYING:

REPORTER: “How long do you expect this to take?”

TRUMP: “Take what?”

REPORTER: “The war.”

TRUMP: “Well, I think it's going very fast. We've demolished their military. We're hitting them very hard. And we had a deal yesterday or the day before yesterday. It was all done. And then they broke up that deal immediately because they found out there was something in the deal they didn't like. And they're wired differently and we're not going to put up with it. We are just going forward. We are attacking them tonight, and we're taking out all of their capability for anything having to do with the Strait, with the Hormuz Strait. And I think in the end we will end up controlling the whole thing. And what they're doing is being very foolish, very stupid, and they've treated people horribly. They've killed 52,000 protesters so far that we can determine.”

3. REPORTERS LISTENING TO TRUMP

4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, IN EXCHANGE WITH OFF-CAMERA REPORTER, SAYING:

REPORTER: “Have you reached the conclusion that a negotiated settlement won't be able to happen?”

TRUMP: “No. I never reach that conclusion. But we're hitting a very heavy tonight, as you know, we're heading and we have tremendous amounts of ammunition. We have numbers that we haven't had in years, and we're hitting them very hard. And it will continue and we'll see what happens. But we're knocking out all of their offensive capability. And we're 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 it. So it's a blockade. A very strong blockade. And the blockade was probably more effective even than hitting them. But I think the combination is a thing that really does it.”

REPORTER: “ But you think a deal is still possible?”

TRUMP: “Yeah, I think a deal is possible, sure, I do.”

5. REPORTERS LISTENING TO TRUMP

6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, IN EXCHANGE WITH OFF-CAMERA REPORTER, SAYING:

REPORTER: “Do you think you need to be reimbursed?”

TRUMP: “Yeah, 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. We're protecting, by the countries that we're helping. For instance, you look at the five countries, you have Saudi Arabia, you have UAE, you have Qatar, Bahrain, and by the way you have others, you have Kuwait and you have others, and they will do very well. But we think it's appropriate, we don't need them. You know, we have more oil than any other country in the world. When you add Venezuela, which has been amazing, which has tremendous amounts of oil that we control, when you add Venezuela and everything else, we have more than 50% of the world's supply. We don't need it, but we need it from the standpoint of protecting our allies, etc., etc., including Israel, including Saudi Arabia, including Qatar, including the UAE. We're protecting all of them, and we've done a very effective job.”

7. REPORTERS LISTENING TO TRUMP

8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“So we're doing another major attack tonight. They want to make a deal. They came back, we made a deal two days ago, and they want to make a deal. They've been negotiating for 47 years, but nobody's ever hit them militarily. We're hitting them very hard. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.”

9. TRUMP SITTING BEHIND DESK FLANKED BY OFFICIALS