US President Donald Trump posted a lengthy note on Truth Social on Sunday, saying he hoped “Iran will accept the deal with the US”. He said US representatives will be in Islamabad, Pakistan on Monday (April 20) evening for “Negotiations”.
“My representatives are on their way to Islamabad, Pakistan – they will be there tomorrow night for talks,” Trump wrote.
“They will go down fast, they will go down easy, and if they do not accept the DEAL, I will be honored to do what needs to be done, what other presidents should have done to Iran over the last 47 years. IT IS TIME FOR THE IRANIAN KILLING MACHINE TO END!” he added.
Donald Trump’s post comes days after US and Iranian representatives met in Islamabad for the first round of talks – which ended without a breakthrough. At the time, Washington proposed a 20-year freeze on all Iranian nuclear activity, while Iran proposed a three- to five-year freeze, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the proposals.
“Still far from final discussion…” – What did Iran say?
The Strait of Hormuz remained closed Sunday amid a standoff between Iran and the United States. The Islamic Republic reversed course on Saturday in reopening the Strait of Hormuz and reimposed restrictions on the critical waterway after the U.S. said the move would not end its blockade, the AP reported.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, said in a televised address Saturday night that there had been “progress” with Washington, “but there are many gaps and some fundamental points remain.”
“We are still far from the final discussion,” said Ghalibaf, one of Tehran’s negotiators in talks aimed at ending the conflict, AFP reported.
On Saturday, two Indian-flagged vessels carrying oil were attacked while attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz.
Indian-flagged vessels attacked near Hormuz
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed the incident in a statement released on Saturday.
Although no casualties were reported and the vessels were not damaged, both ships were forced to turn back after the incident, which occurred in the north-east of Oman.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement that following the incident, Delhi summoned Iran’s ambassador and “expressed India’s deep concern over today’s firing incident involving two Indian-flagged ships in the Strait of Hormuz”.
