US President Donald Trump has warned Iran that “lots of bombs [will] start going off” if a deal is not reached when the ceasefire deadline expires on Wednesday. The ceasefire was earlier set to expire on Tuesday, and Trump said it was “highly unlikely” he would extend it further. Fighting could resume immediately if the two sides failed to reach an agreement, he said: “If there’s no deal, I would certainly expect.” The ceasefire was set to last two weeks and had begun on the evening of April 7.
At the same time, Trump told Bloomberg in a phone interview that he was “not going to be rushed into making a bad deal”.
“We’ve got all the time in the world,” he said.
In Truth Social posts and conversations with multiple news media outlets Monday, Trump outlined his expectations from the proposed peace talks in Islamabad that Iran has turned down, spoke about gas prices, and said he was even ready to meet Iranian leaders personally to end the war that began when US and Israel hit Tehran in coordinated strikes on February 28 and killed its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
How US got into Iran war
Underlining that he wasn’t drawn into the war by Israel, the US President explained that it was the October 7 attack by Hamas, which claimed nearly 1,200 Israeli lives, that “added to his lifelong opinion that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon”.
Trump’s Truth Social post on Monday.
In a Truth Social post, he promised “amazing” results in Iran war, which is nearing the two-month mark, and said “if Iran’s new leaders (Regime Change!) are smart, Iran can have a great and prosperous future!”.
Are Islamabad peace talks happening?
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Trump was asked by PBS News whether the second round of negotiations with Iran were happening. Trump struck a positive note.
“I don’t know. I mean, they’re supposed to be there. We agreed to be there, although they say we didn’t. But no, it was set up. And we’ll see whether or not it’s there. If they’re not there, that’s fine too,” he said.
A few hours earlier, Iran’s foreign affairs ministry had said Tehran had “no plans” to attend talks.
“As of now, we have no plans for the next round of negotiations,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said. “We don’t believe in deadlines or ultimatums to secure Iran’s national interests”.
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Iran is considering attending the peace talks, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday, but no decision had been made.
Trump told The New York Post separately that Vice-President JD Vance, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were on their way to the talks. Reuters sources, however, claimed that Vance was still in the US.
A day earlier, Trump had unilaterally announced that a delegation from Washington would arrive on Monday evening for 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 had posted on social media on Sunday.
What’s Trump’s non-negotiable from talks?
“No nuclear weapons. Very simple,” Trump told PBS News, adding that “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Very simple”.
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Even while answering a question over the involvement of Kushner who reportedly has Saudi business interests, Trump told PBS News: “I mean, we’re not negotiating anything other than the fact that they will not have a nuclear weapon. And that’s pretty basic when you get right down to it.”
He repeated his demand in a conversation with The New York Post. “Get rid of their nuclear weapons. That’s all very simple…There will be no nuclear weapon.”
Trump ready to meet top Iran leaders
The Republican leader said he had “no problem” meeting the top officials from the Iranian side. Currently, the highest-ranking official in the US delegation is Trump’s deputy Vance.
“I have no problem meeting them,” Trump told The Post. “If they want to meet, and we have some very capable people, but I have no problem meeting them.”
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The US on April 11 and 12 held its first direct in-person talks with Iran since 1979 in Pakistan’s Islamabad.
Vance, who led the American delegation, had then pointed at Iran’s refusal to commit to never seeking a nuclear weapon as a deal-breaker.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei, meanwhile, claimed the talks were “full of mistrust and suspicion”, and underlined multiple sticking points such as the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, among other issues.
The key maritime chokepoint of Strait of Hormuz, which transported a fifth of the global fuel before the war, was opened by Iran for a brief period before being shut again.
Gas prices no worry
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US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright had told CNN that gas prices may not fall below $3 until later this year or next year. Trump contradicted his own secretary’s statement, saying he believed that prices would come “roaring down” on one condition.
“I disagree with him totally. I think it’ll come roaring down if it ends. If we end it, if Iran does what they should do, it will come roaring down,” the US President told PBS News.
