‘No more nice guy’
US president says Tehran ‘can’t get their act together’ on non-nuclear agreement
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged Iran to “get smart soon” over a nuclear deal, declaring: “No more Mr. nice guy!”
“Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon,” Trump threatened on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday.
Notably, the post included an image of the US president wearing a black suit and sunglasses while holding a firearm, with explosions in an Iranian landscape behind him.
The US and Israel launched a joint offensive against Iran on February 28, prompting Tehran to respond with strikes on what it described as US interests across the region, many of them in Gulf countries.
A ceasefire was announced on April 8 through Pakistani mediation, followed by talks hosted in Islamabad on April 11-12, but the negotiations ended without an agreement.
Trump later said the truce had been extended at Pakistan’s request pending a proposal from Tehran.
He signalled on Monday that he was unlikely to accept Iran’s latest proposal to end the war after Tehran proposed a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz while leaving questions about its nuclear program for later negotiations.
Trump urges Iran to sign a deal after report suggests US may extend blockade
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) cited US officials as saying the president had instructed aides to prepare for an extended blockade of Iran’s ports in a bid to force Tehran to capitulate.
Officials said that Trump had opted to continue squeezing Iran’s economy and oil exports with the blockade as his other options–resuming bombing or walking away from the conflict–carried more risk, according to the WSJ.
Iran wants some kind of US acknowledgement of its right to enrich uranium for what it says are peaceful, civilian purposes.
It has a stockpile of roughly 440 kilograms (970 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60%, material that could be used for several nuclear weapons if further enriched.
Iranian officials said on Tuesday the country could withstand the blockade as it was using alternative trade routes, and the Islamic Republic did not consider the war over.
The US-Israeli war on Iran has killed thousands of civilians in Iran and Lebanon, thrown energy markets into turmoil and disrupted global trade routes.
Iran wants formal end to conflict first
Iran’s most recent offer for resolving the two-month war, suspended since April 8 under a ceasefire agreement, would set aside discussion of its nuclear programme until the conflict is formally ended and shipping issues resolved.
That proposal did not meet Trump’s demand to have the nuclear issue discussed from the outset, however.
US intelligence agencies, at the request of senior administration officials, are studying how Iran would respond if Trump were to declare a unilateral victory in the two-month-old war that has become a political liability for the White House, two US officials and a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
