WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump offered mixed messages on Monday about the path ahead for the , declaring that he was in no rush to end the conflict while also expressing confidence that further negotiations with Tehran will soon take place in Pakistan.
With the 14-day , Trump whipsawed in telephone interviews and social media posts between measured optimism that a deal could soon be reached and warning that 鈥渓ots of bombs鈥� will 鈥渟tart going off鈥� if there’s no agreement before the ceasefire deadline.
Trump indicated that he still expects to dispatch his negotiating team, led by Vice President JD Vance, to Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad for a , even as Iran insisted it would not take part until Trump dialed back his demands.
Iran鈥檚 chief negotiator and parliament speaker, Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, accused the United States of wanting Iran to surrender and added that on the contrary, Iran has been preparing 鈥渢o reveal new cards on the battlefield.”
鈥淲e do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats,鈥� Qalibaf wrote in a post on X early Tuesday.
Trump insisted he feels no pressure to end the war until Iran agrees to his terms.
鈥淚 am under no pressure whatsoever,鈥� Trump said on his Truth Social platform, 鈥渁lthough, it will all happen, relatively quickly!鈥�
Pakistani officials moved ahead with preparations for a new round of talks between the U.S. and Iran as the tenuous ceasefire was further strained over the weekend by .
Trump told Bloomberg 草莓传媒 he was 鈥渉ighly unlikely鈥� to renew the ceasefire.
Iran holds out on resuming negotiations
Tensions flared after the U.S. Navy attacked and seized a ship on Sunday that it said was trying to evade its blockade of Iranian ports. On Saturday, Iran fired at vessels and abruptly stopped traffic in the strait, abandoning its promise to allow some ships to pass and claiming the U.S. was not holding up its side of the ceasefire.
The U.S. actions are 鈥渋ncompatible with the claim of diplomacy,鈥� Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday in a social media post.
He gave no indication what Iran will do after the ceasefire expires or whether Iran will return to a second round of negotiations with the U.S.
Over the weekend, Iran said it had received new proposals from the U.S. but suggested that a wide gap remains between the sides. Issues that derailed the last round of negotiations included , its regional proxies and the strait.
Iran has throttled traffic through the strait, which connects the Persian Gulf to the open seas, since shortly after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28 to start the war. The U.S. has also instituted a . Roughly one-fifth of the world鈥檚 oil trade normally passes through the strait.
Trump swipes at war critics, seeks to calm investors
The U.S. president lashed out at war critics at home who are urging him to wrap up the conflict that began more than seven weeks ago.
鈥淗ow bad is it that when you are in the middle of negotiations and you have got the Iranians in a perfect position, including being militarily defeated, and you have Democrats and some Republicans asking to settle it now?鈥� Trump told the New York Post.
Even as Trump bristled at his detractors, he sought to soothe jittery investors as U.S. stocks slipped modestly Monday, following the chaotic weekend in the Persian Gulf.
The president found himself remonstrating his energy secretary, Chris Wright, who on Sunday said American motorists might not see gas prices fall back into the $3 per gallon range until late this year or next year.
鈥淚 disagree with him totally. I think it鈥檒l come roaring down if it ends,鈥� Trump told PBS. 鈥淚f we end it, if Iran does what they should do, it will come roaring down.鈥�
Israel-Lebanon talks to resume, official says
Meanwhile, historic diplomatic talks between Israel and Lebanon were set to resume Thursday in Washington, an Israeli, a Lebanese and a U.S. official said. All three spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the behind-the-scenes negotiations.
The Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors met last week for the first direct diplomatic talks in decades. Israel says the talks are aimed at disarming Hezbollah and reaching a peace agreement with Lebanon.
A began Friday in Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed broke out two days after the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran. Fighting in Lebanon has .
In two separate encounters on Monday, the Israeli air force struck and killed Hezbollah militants that the military said approached its troops in a threatening way. Israel has carried out several airstrikes since the ceasefire went into effect.
Hezbollah said it detonated explosives Sunday in an Israeli convoy inside Lebanon.
Iran says more than 3,000 have been killed in the country so far
Since the war started, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran, according to a new toll released Monday in official Iranian media by Abbas Masjedi, the head of Iran鈥檚 Legal Medicine Organization.
He did not break down casualties among civilians and security forces, saying instead that 2,875 were male and 496 were female. Masjedi said 383 of the dead were children 18 years old and younger.
Additionally, 23 people have died in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 U.S. service members throughout the region have been killed.
Oil prices on the rise again after renewed conflict in Strait of Hormuz
Iran鈥檚 grip on the strait has sent oil prices skyrocketing and given rise to one of the .
Oil prices Monday, with Brent crude, the international standard, at just over $95 a barrel 鈥� up from about $70 a barrel before the war started.
Iran said it had reopened the strait to ships Friday, but traffic halted after Trump refused to lift the U.S. blockade.
Sunday’s U.S. seizure of the Iranian cargo was the first such interception under the blockade. Iran鈥檚 joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a ceasefire violation.
Trump said the blockade will remain 鈥渋n full force鈥� until Tehran agrees to a deal. The U.S. military said on Monday that it has directed 27 ships to return to Iranian ports since the blockade began last week.
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Ahmed reported from Islamabad, and Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Associated Press journalists Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; David Rising in Bangkok; Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel; Josef Federman in Jerusalem; Joshua Boak and Matthew Lee in Washington; and Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis contributed to this report.
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