New Delhi, April 22 -- US President Donald Trump has made a striking claim: that Iran, despite its combative public rhetoric over the Strait of Hormuz, is privately desperate to reopen the waterway it has shut after US strikes.

In a series of posts on Truth Social, Trump suggested that Iran's public stance on the closure of the Strait masks a deeper financial urgency. According to him, the economic toll of halted oil flows is becoming increasingly unsustainable for Tehran.

"Iran doesn't want the Strait of Hormuz closed; they want it open so they can make $500 million a day (which is, therefore, what they are losing if it is closed!)," Trump posted.

He further characterised Iran's rhetoric as performative, aimed at preserving domestic a...