Trump Ready for 'Strong Military Action' if 'Deep' Talks with Iran Fail
Amid heightened tension and mutual threats of expanding the war in the region, U.S. airstrikes on Iranian military facilities and Tehran’s attacks on neighboring countries were absent for the third consecutive day, as mediators worked to find an acceptable formula to resume navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
He told Axios that his administration would not grant negotiations a long time, noting that the ongoing talks were “deep” but would not continue indefinitely.
Regarding the timeframe he was allowing for diplomacy, he said, “Not a long time. Either things move quickly, or they don’t move at all.”
He also revealed that he had decided to halt strikes on Friday after mediators requested that negotiations be given an additional chance, adding that he believed Tehran wanted to reach an agreement.
He affirmed, “We haven’t gained anything, nor have we lost anything,” clarifying that oil prices had fallen and stock markets had risen following the halt in military escalation.
Earlier, Trump denied that a shortage of interceptor missile stocks was behind the decision to suspend strikes after 13 consecutive days of bombing.
To underscore his resolve to resume raids at any time, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Sunday evening an AI-generated image depicting strikes on Kharg Island, which he had previously threatened to control to prevent Iran from exporting its oil and force it to allow commercial ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without restrictions.
He also posted images of himself standing on board an Iranian oil tanker, writing, “It’s our oil tanker now.”
He expressed confidence that the United States could handle the shortage in interceptor missile stocks by thwarting Iranian attempts to launch missiles, should the president decide to resume strikes.
Spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Ismail Baghai, said, “Mediators may convey a message from the U.S. side to us regarding developments in the region. However, at present, we are not conducting any negotiations with the United States.”
Baghai stated that Washington was not interested in the talks being held by his country with the Sultanate of Oman regarding the management of navigation in the strait, emphasizing that this vital waterway for energy supplies and maritime shipping “remains closed” by his country.
Official Iranian media published a report citing an “informed source” stating that authorities had returned six “violating vessels” on Monday morning after they attempted to cross the strait without permission.
For his part, the spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps told the Iranian Press TV channel that “our strikes on U.S. sites in the region resulted in the killing of 200 military personnel and injured a larger number.”
Iraqi security sources reported that a series of drone attacks targeted camps of Kurdish opposition forces opposed to Iran in the north, without specifying the attacking party.
