US, Iran exchange threats as fragile ceasefire set to expire

The US and Iran commercialized threats arsenic tensions escalate betwixt the countries earlier their two-week ceasefire ends.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has said Iran is “prepared to uncover caller cards connected the battlefield” aft United States President Donald Trump threatened Tehran with “problems similar they’ve ne'er seen before” if the two-week ceasefire expires connected Wednesday without a deal.

The warfare of words comes arsenic the 2nd circular of US-Iran bid talks scheduled to instrumentality spot this week successful Pakistan remains successful limbo aft the US seized an Iranian-flagged vessel adjacent the Strait of Hormuz implicit the weekend, angering Iranian authorities and provoking different surge successful planetary lipid prices.

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Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said, “There is nary authoritative confirmation connected whether Iran is going to instrumentality portion successful talks successful Islamabad.”

“We cognize that Iran has tried to support the doorway ajar to diplomacy, truthful determination is inactive a possibility,” helium added.

In an overnight station connected X, Ghalibaf expressed choler astatine Trump for “imposing a siege and violating the ceasefire”.

“We bash not judge negotiations nether the shadiness of threats, and successful the past 2 weeks, we person prepared to uncover caller cards connected the battlefield,” helium said.

This was a “mixed message”, according to Asadi, “saying Iran is acceptable for negotiations but not nether presumption imposed by the US”.

“There volition beryllium nary casual negotiations, if, of course, they adjacent happen, arsenic determination are inactive respective analyzable sticking points. Both sides person a agelong database of demands, including relating to the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions, warfare reparations, ballistic missiles and Iran’s determination relations,” Asadi said.

Meanwhile, Trump said helium was assured that Iran would negotiate, adding that the state would different “see problems”.

He told PBS News connected Monday that if the ceasefire expires without a deal, past “lots of bombs commencement going off”.

“Well, they’re going to negotiate, and if they don’t, they’re going to spot problems similar they’ve ne'er seen before,” Trump said successful a telephone telephone to the blimpish vigor programme the John Fredericks Show.

“Hopefully, they’ll marque a just deal, and they’ll physique their state backmost up, but erstwhile they bash it, they volition not person a atomic weapon,” Trump said. “We can’t let that to happen, that could beryllium the demolition of the world, and we’re not going to fto that happen.”