Trump accuses Iran of 'total violation' of ceasefire, says US going to Pakistan to resume negotiations
"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," US President Donald Trump said, referring to a deal.
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WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump accused Iran on Sunday (Apr 19) of a "total violation" of the two countries' ceasefire for firing on ships near the Strait of Hormuz, and renewed a threat to wipe out Iran's bridges and power plants unless it accepted his terms.
Trump said his envoys would arrive in Pakistan on Monday evening, prepared to hold more talks.
"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," he posted on social media. "NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!"
Iran, which has blocked off the strait to ships apart from its own since the US and Israel attacked on Feb 28, announced on Friday it would reopen the strait.
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But it reversed that decision a day later after Trump refused to halt a US blockade of Iranian shipping.
At least two ships reported they had been fired upon while approaching the strait on Saturday, and since then shipping data has shown no movement through the waterway.
"Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz - A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement!" Trump wrote in Sunday's post. "That wasn’t nice, was it?"
Still, despite Trump's new threats to renew bombing, his announcement that US officials were returning to Pakistan was the first official confirmation that talks would resume. A first round of talks held a week ago had ended with no breakthrough.
Iran's chief negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said the two sides remained far apart on nuclear issues and the strait, the two main sticking points.
STRAIT OF HORMUZ SHUT AGAIN
Two liquefied petroleum gas tankers were seen on ship tracking sites moving eastbound towards the Strait early on Sunday morning but the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that Iran's armed forces turned them back. Marine traffic data showed no other movements after midnight.
Now in its eighth week, the war has created the most severe shock to global energy supplies in history, sending oil prices surging because of the de facto closure of the strait, which before the war carried one-fifth of the world's oil shipments.
Friday's announcement that the strait would reopen caused one of the sharpest one-day drops in oil prices in history, and stock markets hit fresh all-time highs on the expectation that the disruption would soon end.
That the reopening has yet to take place as anticipated could bring new volatility when markets reopen on Monday morning.
Thousands of people have been killed by US-Israeli strikes on Iran and in an Israeli invasion of Lebanon conducted in parallel. Iran responded to attacks with missiles and drones against its Arab neighbours that host US bases.
Talks in Islamabad ended with no agreement last week, but security measures were being taken in the Pakistani capital in preparation for potential further meetings.
City authorities halted public transport and heavy goods traffic through the city and rolls of barbed wire were rolled out near the Serena Hotel where last week's talks were held. The hotel told guests on Sunday to leave.
In central Islamabad, there was a heavy police and army presence, but the security protocols did not appear to be at the same level as they were before the first round, when Vice President JD Vance led the US delegation.
Earlier, Iran's deputy foreign minister, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said a framework of understanding would have to be agreed for further talks.
IRAN, TRUMP CITE PROGRESS IN TALKS
Pressure for a way out of the war has mounted on Trump as his fellow Republicans prepare to defend narrow majorities in Congress in the November midterm elections, with US gasoline prices high, inflation rising and his own approval ratings down.
Iran's chief negotiator, Qalibaf, told state media that the talks in Islamabad had made progress but: "There is still a big distance between us."
"There are some issues on which we insist ... They also have red lines. But these issues could be just one or two."
When US and Iranian negotiators met last weekend in Islamabad, Washington proposed a 20-year suspension of all Iranian nuclear activity, while Iran suggested a halt of three to five years, according to people familiar with the proposals.
A statement from Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Iran's navy was ready to inflict "new bitter defeats" on its enemies.
A two-week ceasefire in the Iran war is set to expire early on Wednesday. Israel and Lebanon announced a separate ceasefire last week, which paved the way for Iran's announcement that it would reopen the strait.
More than a million Lebanese were displaced by the Israeli invasion, which Israel said was in pursuit of Hezbollah, a powerful Shi'ite armed group allied with Iran that fired across the border in support of Tehran.
A French soldier serving in a UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon was killed, and three personnel from the mission were wounded, two of them severely, in an incident UN officials said was probably caused by Hezbollah fire.
An Israeli soldier was also killed in a separate incident, the Israeli military said.
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