Hours before talks in Islamabad, US President Donald Trump said on Friday that US warships are being reloaded with weapons to strike Iran if talks in Pakistan do not produce a deal. He said that if the deal does not work out, the US will use the weapons “very effectively”.
In an interview with the New York Post, Trump said, “We have a reset going. We’re loading up the ships with the best ammunition, the best weapons ever made — even better than what we did previously, and we blew them apart.”
“And if we don’t have a deal, we will be using them, and we will be using them very effectively.”
In a separate Truth Social post, Trump said that the Iranians have “no cards” and can only “extort” the world through international waterways. “The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!” Trump wrote.
JD Vance “Positive” About Talks
Trump’s comments come after US Vice President JD Vance headed to Pakistan for high-level talks with officials in Iran. Before his departure, Vance said he believed talks with Iran would be “positive”. However, he said that if Iran tried to “play” the US, they would find that “the negotiating team is not that receptive.”
Ghalibaf’s Warning
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, posted Friday on social media that two points that he said had been mutually agreed on – a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of blocked Iranian assets – have yet to be implemented.
“These two matters must be fulfilled before negotiations begin,” he wrote.
The talks are taking place amidst ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah and Iran’s continued control over the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has asserted that the scheduled talks for Saturday would not proceed unless Israel halted its strikes in Lebanon. Next week, the US plans to initiate negotiations between Israel and Lebanon.
Key parts of Islamabad are locked down because of the talks, and barricades are erected along routes from the airport to the city before the delegations arrive.
Status Of Strait Of Hormuz
Before the conflict, over 100 ships passed through the strait each day – many carrying oil to Asia. With the ceasefire in place, only 12 have been recorded passing through.
Trump complained about that situation, writing on his social media platform: “Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz.”
“That is not the agreement we have!” Trump wrote of the trickle of ships Iran has allowed to pass.
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