President Donald Trump has issued his latest threat to Iran and said that if officials fail to make a deal with the United States “the whole country is going to get blown up.”
The president also made threats Sunday morning to target civil infrastructure after it was reported that Iranian forces were refusing to allow ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz this weekend.
“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!” Trump wrote. The posts appeared to be an effort to bring the regime to the table for 11th-hour talks before the U.S.-Iran ceasefire expires next week.
Trump told Fox News that he was sending a team to Pakistan this week for negotiations. It was unclear whether Iran was sending its own delegation after their top negotiator said both sides remained far apart on key issues and hit out at the U.S. over its blockade of the Strait. There has been no official confirmation of talks, even as Islamabad stepped up security.
“If they don’t sign this deal, the whole country is going to get blown up,” Trump told Fox News Chief Foreign Correspondent Trey Yingst.
A two-week ceasefire is set to expire Tuesday if a deal is not reached. The ceasefire came on the heels of Trump’s threat to end Iranian “civilization” if a deal was not made. The U.S. president’s repeated threats to Iran’s population and civil infrastructure has been seized upon by his critics as evidence that Trump would support or even carry out war crimes.
Last weekend, U.S.-Iran peace talks in Pakistan collapsed. Vice President JD Vance, who was leading the negotiations, emerged from a marathon session unable to pinpoint a specific matter on which the two sides had found agreement. This week, the U.S. began a blockade of Iranian ports, with the aim of shutting down Iran’s sale of oil to countries including Russia and China.
According to Trump and other U.S. officials, the main sticking point is Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Trump administration officials are pushing for the full destruction of Iran’s nuclear sites, the surrender of nuclear material, and a guarantee that Iran will not seek to enrich uranium in the future.
Vance will not lead the latest round of talks, which will include special envoys Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. On Sunday morning, there appeared to be confusion among officials over Vance’s role. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNN that Vance was leading the negotiations only for Trump to then tell MS NOW that the vice president would not be attending the latest round due to “security reasons.”
On Friday, the president declared “victory” over Iran and said that the Strait of Hormuz was open once again to global shipping traffic. Early Friday morning Trump wrote on Truth Social that the strait was “fully open.”
On Sunday, a U.K.-based maritime security agency reported that a tanker was fired upon by a vessel or vessels manned by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“The Master of a Tanker reports being approached by 2 IRGC gun boats, no VHF challenge that then fired upon the tanker. Tanker and crew are reported safe. Authorities are investigating,” the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre reported.
In an X post from Iran’s embassy in Hyderabad, India, the IRGC stated: “As long as the traffic of vessels to and from Iran is threatened by the U.S, the status of the Strait of Hormuz will be as before, more restricted.”
“Every breach by the US will meet an appropriate response,” added the IRGC naval command in the statement posted to X.
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