US Politics As It Happened: Trump threatens ‘decapitation’ if deal falls through

Thanks for following our live coverage of US politics and the war in the Middle East.

Here’s what made headlines today:

• US President Donald Trump made a string of statements and social media posts, including telling Iran they have one last chance to sign a peace deal or face “decapitation”, but then also saying there’s “no time constraints” on negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
• The US president took to social media to declare Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and he also criticised oil companies for making too much money off the conflict.
• Speaking of oil, another ship was stuck in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the UK maritime monitor. It is not know who fired the projectile, nor where the tanker was from.
• In Iran, the local judiciary said it had executed two men who were accused of being Israeli spies.

Iran’s judiciary said it executed two men Monday after convicting them of spying for Israel during both last year’s 12-day war and the ongoing conflict.

The judiciary’s Mizan news agency identified the two as Omid Behzad and Pouria Safvat, who were accused of providing military coordinates, images and other intelligence used in attacks on Iranian targets.

The agency did not specify where the executions took place.

Last week, Iran publicly hanged two men convicted of killing four police officers during nationwide anti-government protests in January.

The body of a US soldier killed in Iraq while disarming a downed drone has been returned to the US.

Sergeant Michael Swinton’s casket was met by family and friends at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

“He was incredibly kind, a goofball, generous in his love,” family friend Derissa Morris told CNN.

“He’s always had that instinct in him being a good father, being a good provider, being a good son, being a good friend. He was loved by everybody.

“There was nobody that could ever tell you that he was not kind and did not serve a beautiful purpose in their lives.”

Another tanker has been struck in the Strait of Hormuz, the UK ship traffic monitor says.

The UKMTO said a cargo ship was struck by an “unknown projectile” about 37km north-east of Al Khasab, Oman.

There was no confirmation on who launched the projectile and whose flag the ship bore.

The Israeli military has killed at least 28 people in Gaza since the Board of Peace announced its plan for Hamas to disarm and a new Palestinian government to be installed, according to local health authorities.

There are fears this could jeopardise the long-gestating peace process, which will see Israeli troops withdraw from occupied territory on the disarmament of Hamas.

Mediators Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey issued a statement condemning Israeli “violations” and accusing its forces of killing civilians.

Palestinian health authorities do not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants in death tolls.

Hamas has said it will disarm when Israel moves forces back to the “yellow line” established in last October’s ceasefire agreement, while the Board of Peace says the withdrawal will only follow disarmament.

Iran continues to maintain that it is not involved in any discussions with the US.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei told media at a press briefing that the only discussions Iran was involved in were with Oman regarding the management of the Strait of Hormuz, according to state outlet IRNA.

He described the talks as “completely bilateral” with no third party involved.

However, he did say Pakistan - as opposed to China - remained a key mediator between Iran and the US.

Baqaei said “the ball has long been in America’s court” when it came to meeting conditions necessary for peace, but that a change in the Strait of Hormuz was unlikely as long as the US continued its naval blockade of Iran.

Trump boasted there would have been “very little left” of Iran had the US followed through with its threatened scaled-up attacks on the weekend.

But he pushed back on suggestions the White House was running on a political ticking clock, again saying he wasn’t worried about the consequences of the coming midterm elections.

“If I’m given a chance to let a lot of people live, I want to give that chance. So I’m under no time constraint,” he said, according to CNN.

“You know, I don’t happen to be running, but a lot of very good Republicans are running.”

If, as predicted, the Democrats retake the House of Representatives, Republicans will lose full control of the legislature.

Trump says US oil companies are making “too much money” off the back of constrained shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

“Based on a shortage, they’re making too much money. I don’t like it, and I should be the last one to say because I’m a big free enterprise guy,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

The president had overnight called on oil companies to lower their retail prices.

Trump specifically criticised giants Chevron and ExxonMobil, both of whom reported huge profits driven by the war last week.

“When you look at one company where they made 12 times what they made the year before, they ought to give some of that back to the public, and they better cut the retail price, the consumer price,” Trump told reporters.

“Too much money. You’re surprised I’m saying it, I’ll say it loud and clear, I’m not happy about it.”

American officers are looking to crowdsource ideas to end the war in Iran, according to an exclusive report by CNN.

“We are looking for new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran,” an officer in CENTCOM’s intelligence branch said in an email to a broad group of military analysts.

It’s a reflection of the limited options the White House currently feels it has at its disposal.

“US Central Command has a long history of thinking and working in innovative ways,” CENTCOM spokesperson Captain Timothy Hawkins said in a statement.