US President Donald Trump has warned Iran it could face new strikes if talks in Pakistan fail within the framework of a temporary ceasefire agreement, according to US media reports.
The New York Post quoted Trump as saying, “We have a reset going. We’re loading up the ships with the best ammunition, the best weapons ever made – even better than what we did previously and we blew them apart,” he said in an interview with the New York Post. “And if we don’t have a deal, we will be using them, and we will be using them very effectively.”
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote that Iran has “no cards” in upcoming talks with the US – apart from Tehran’s effective stranglehold on the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping channel.
“The Iranians don’t seem to realise they have no cards, other than a short-term extortion of the World by using International Waterways. The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!” Trump said on his Truth Social network.
The remarks come as US Vice President JD Vance headed to Pakistan to pave the way for talks scheduled for today with Iran, while warning Tehran against any attempt to ‘play games’ with Washington.
“If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we’re certainly willing to extend the open hand. If they’re going to try to play us, then they’re going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive,” he said.
Iran, for its part, has reiterated its insistence on preconditions for launching negotiations, particularly a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Vance told reporters in Washington he expected the talks to be positive and looked forward to the negotiations.
Vance added that Trump had given them ‘very clear guidance’ on how the talks should proceed, though he declined to elaborate when asked by reporters travelling with him.
Meanwhile, Iran said yesterday that the release of frozen Iranian assets must take place and that a ceasefire in Lebanon should be implemented before resuming peace talks – raising doubts in recent hours about the prospects for the negotiations.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a statement on Thursday that the two demands had already been agreed upon with the US, warning that negotiations would not begin until they are fulfilled.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a national address yesterday night, laid out the stakes of the talks.
“The permanent ceasefire is the next difficult phase, which is to resolve the complicated issues through negotiation. This, as called in English, is a make-or-break phase,” Sharif said.
He said his government would “make every possible effort to make these talks successful.”
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