On his Truth Social platform, Donald Trump claimed the US was talking with a “NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME” and negotiations to end the war in Iran had made “great progress.”
He suggested a deal would be “probably” reached shortly.
It should be noted that Trump did not reveal who might make up this “new regime”, and experts widely agree the existing leadership of Iran remains in charge, despite the killing of the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, on 28 February. He was replaced by his son, Mojtaba Khamenei.
Trump repeats threat to bomb power plants
Despite his claims of progress, Trump repeated threats that “if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached”, the US would attack Iran’s power plants.
In a common Trump refrain, he said the US would end its war with “completely obliterating” all of Iran’s electricity plants, oil wells and Kharg Island – if Tehran did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island,” Trump wrote in a social media post.
The US president’s comments on the war continue to vary widely, between threats and claims the conflict is almost at an end.
Here’s what else Trump has been saying about the Iran war today:
- In an interview with the Financial Times, Trump said: “My favourite thing is to take the oil in Iran”;
- He added that the US could “easily” take Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil terminal in the Persian Gulf, if needed, saying: “Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options”;
- Then, in a previous Truth Social post, the US president promised it would be a “big day” for Iran;
- And overnight, Trump spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One and told them negotiations with Tehran were going “extremely well”, but he admitted “you never know with Iran.”
It comes after Iran’s foreign ministry contradicted Trump over his previous negotiation claims.
Iran fired multiple waves of missiles at Israel on Monday and vowed to “punish the aggressor” as Israeli forces pounded Tehran and oil prices rose after Yemen’s Houthis entered the war in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Tehran’s foreign ministry has said U.S. proposals to bring about an end to fighting in Iran are “unrealistic, illogical and excessive.”
Esmail Baghaei, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, made the comments during a news conference this morning, in reference to a 15-point plan the US previously sent to Iran, via intermediaries.
Baghaei added that there were still “no direct negotiations” with the US – only indirect talks through intermediaries, including Pakistan.
Israel’s military said two drones from Yemen had been intercepted on Monday, two days after the Iran-aligned Houthis fired missiles at Israel for the first time since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran that has spread across the region.
Written with reports from Sky News, Arab News