Donald Trump has issued a fresh threat against Iran for allegedly breaking the ceasefire by firing bullets at European ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The president warned he would order the US military to ‘knock out every single power plant and every single bridge’ in Iran if they refuse the next peace deal.
Trump, 79, has sent representatives to Pakistan for negotiations in the Middle Eastern conflict, which escalated February 28 when the US began combat operations in Iran.
Writing on Truth Social on Sunday, he said that Iran had ‘decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz’ at a French ship and a freighter from the UK.
Trump blasted this as ‘a total violation’ of the two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran which was announced April 8, before issuing a fresh threat.
‘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,’ Trump wrote.
‘NO MORE MR. NICE GUY! They’ll come down fast, they’ll come down easy and, if they don’t take the DEAL, it will be my Honor to do what has to be done, which should have been done to Iran, by other Presidents, for the last 47 years.
‘IT’S TIME FOR THE IRAN KILLING MACHINE TO END!’
It is unclear which American negotiators will be sent to Islamabad, Pakistan, for the next round of negotiations on Monday as the ceasefire reaches its expiration date on Wednesday.
Iran doubled down on its pledge to restrict ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remains in place, as mediators scrambled to extend the ceasefire.
The dueling blockades have complicated Pakistani-led mediation attempts and raised questions about whether the two-week truce can be extended.
‘It is impossible for others to pass through the Strait of Hormuz while we cannot,’ Iranian parliamentary Speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf said in an interview aired on state television late Saturday.
Qalibaf, who is Iran’s chief negotiator in talks with the United States, slammed the US blockade as a ‘naive decision made out of ignorance.’
He said Iran still was seeking peace despite deep-seated distrust of the United States.
‘There will be no retreat in the field of diplomacy,’ he said, acknowledging that the gap between the two sides remained wide.
Iran had announced the strait’s reopening after a 10-day truce between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon took hold on Friday.
But after U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports ‘will remain in full force’ until Tehran reaches a deal with the United States.
Iran said it would continue enforcing its restrictions in the strait.
After a brief uptick in transit attempts on Saturday, vessels in the Persian Gulf held their positions, wary after two India-flagged ships were fired on mid-transit and forced to turn around.
Their retreat returned the strait, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil trade normally passes, to its pre-ceasefire status quo, threatening to deepen the global energy crisis and push the parties toward renewed conflict.
For Iran, the strait’s closure – imposed after the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28 during talks over Tehran’s nuclear program – is perhaps its most powerful weapon, threatening the world economy and inflicting political pain on Trump.
For the United States, the blockade squeezes Iran’s already weakened economy and pressures its government by denying it long-term cash flow.
This is a breaking news story with updates to follow.
