Donald Trump warned on Thursday that Iranian negotiators ‘better get serious soon, before it is too late,’ insisting the nation has been ‘obliterated.’
Taking to his platform Truth Social, the US leader wrote: ‘The Iranian negotiators are very different and “strange.” They are “begging” us to make a deal, which they should be doing since they have been militarily obliterated, with zero chance of a comeback, and yet they publicly state that they are only “looking at our proposal.”
‘WRONG!!! They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won’t be pretty! President DJT’
In another post this morning, Trump lashed out at NATO again, saying the defensive alliance has done nothing to help with Iran.
The President reiterated the US does not need anything from NATO but added people should ‘never forget’.
Writing on his platform Truth Social on Thursday, the US President said: ‘Nato nations have done absolutely nothing to help with the lunatic nation, now militarily decimated, of Iran. The USA Needs nothing from Nato, but “never forget” this very important point in time! President Donald j. Trump .’
Trump has repeatedly lambasted NATO throughout the conflict after nations rejected his calls to help escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
On Friday of last week, the US leader called the longtime US allies ‘cowards’ hitting out at them for ‘complaining about high oil prices’ while not helping to open the strait.
Trump’s comments today come as the Pentagon is drawing up miliary options to deliver a ‘final blow’ in Iran which could include deploying ground forces and a massive bombing campaign, it has been reported.
Insiders say a dramatic escalation will grow increasingly likely unless there is a breakthrough in talks and if the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut.
US officials believe another show of force could help Donald Trump by allowing him to declare victory or create further leverage for a peace settlement, according to Axios.
The President reiterated the US does not need anything from NATO but added people should ‘never forget’
Trump lashed out at NATO again this morning on Truth Social
The options are said to include invading or blockading Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil exports hub, invading Larak, an island that helps Tehran keep the Strait of Hormuz under control and seizing ships that export Iranian oil on the eastern side of the strait.
It comes as oil prices climbed again today as markets reacted to Iran dismissing a US proposal to end the war despite Donald Trump insisting leaders in Tehran ‘badly’ want a deal to stop the conflict.
Meanwhile, Iranian outlets have reported that the parliament is seeking to approve a bill which would levy tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
The BBC reported that the head of the parliament’s construction committee said a ‘draft has been prepared but has not reached the stage of a full bill’ and the aim is to ‘provide security for vessels passing’.
It has not yet specified how much the possible tolls will be.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said last night in a televised interview on state TV that Iran has so far accepted requests of vessels passing by countries such as ‘China, Russia, Pakistan, Iraq, and India’.
He said Hormuz, from Iran’s perspective, ‘is not completely closed but closed to enemies’.
Trump yesterday told his fellow Republicans that the US and Israel ‘cut out the cancer’ of Iran’s nuclear program as insiders claim he’s privately seeking to end the war within weeks.
The president declared victory over Iran’s nuclear threat while speaking to the National Republican Congressional Committee Wednesday and said the US military was ready to deliver the knockout blow.
‘It’s short term. What we had to do is get rid of the cancer. We had to cut out the cancer. The cancer was Iran with a nuclear weapon,’ he said.
‘We’ve cut it out. Now we’re going to finish it off.’
Meanwhile, Trump privately told allies and cabinet members that he doesn’t want the war to be drawn out much longer.
Trump had initially outlined a four to six-week timeline at the beginning of the war and he wants to stick to that goal.
The US President has said the US is ‘in negotiations right now’ and that the participants include special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance.
Trump has not identified anyone from Iran taking part.
A 15-point peace plan, modeled on Trump’s Gaza deal, was confirmed by two officials briefed on the talks, the New York Times reported.
It includes Iran dismantling all of its nuclear and long-range missile capabilities, as well as opening the Strait of Hormuz, and abandoning its ties to proxy terror groups across the Middle East.
The proposal outlines reciprocal benefits for Iran, including assistance with advancing its civilian nuclear program, as well as lifting all sanctions imposed by the international community.
Press TV, the English-language broadcaster on Iranian state television, cited an Iranian five-point proposal that includes a halt to killings of its officials, safeguards against future attacks on Iran, reparations for the war, the end of hostilities and Iran’s ‘exercise of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.’
Those measures, particularly reparations and its continued chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz, likely will be unacceptable to the White House.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow
