President Donald Trump, the self-styled peace president, has made an ominous threat to Iran.
He said that “lots of bombs start going off” if a ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran expires, according to PBS News.
He then said he didn’t know whether Iranian officials would attend scheduled ceasefire talks in Pakistan.
“I don’t know. I mean, they’re supposed to be there,” he said.
“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 then repeated a line used to justify Operation Epic Fury: Iran’s debatable nuclear capabilities. Asked what he wants from the negotiating team in Islamabad, he said, “No nuclear weapons. Very simple. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Very simple.”
Iranian spokesman Esmail Baghaei said earlier on Monday that Tehran was “certainly not optimistic” about negotiations with the U.S.
“As of now, we have no plans for the next round of negotiation, and no decision has been made in this regard,” he said.
Baghaei added that Iran “does not believe in deadlines or ultimatums” and that removing its nuclear stockpile was never on the table.
Stopping Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is one of the main motives Trump has provided for launching strikes against Iran. Iran is believed to have enough uranium enriched to 60 percent to fuel 11 nuclear weapons.
Tehran has long insisted it has no plans to build a bomb, and U.S. intelligence assessments in the run-up to Operation Epic Fury suggested the regime had made no attempts to rebuild its nuclear capabilities after a slew of U.S. attacks last year.
The White House secured a tentative ceasefire in the conflict on April 8 after the president threatened to wipe out Iran’s “whole civilization” if the regime did not agree to a temporary stay in hostilities.
The deal was designed in large part to facilitate passage through the Strait of Hormuz—a vital naval corridor that transports roughly one-fifth of global oil supplies, which the Iranian regime had effectively shuttered since early March—until a lasting deal is struck.
Vice President JD Vance is en route to Islamabad, Pakistan, for the latest round of talks with representatives of the Iranian regime ahead of the ceasefire ending on Wednesday.
The agreement, already dogged by earlier uncertainty over whether it applied to Israel’s war with Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed force in Lebanon, has come under increasing strain over the past few days amid a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports.
U.S. forces also seized an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel near the strait on Sunday, in a move that Iranian military command called both an act of piracy and a violation of the ceasefire.
Trump faces mounting pressure both at home and abroad to secure an end to the conflict.
Republicans, already facing what will likely prove a bruising battle to retain control of the House and Senate in November’s midterm elections, have expressed growing anxiety about the impact skyrocketing gas prices may have on the outcome of those polls.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment on this story.
