Investing.com – President Donald Trump touted “progress” in potential negotiations with Iran on Monday, but threatened to carry out strikes on a range of targets in the country if a deal is not reached shortly.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said the U.S. was engaged in “serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran,” adding that “great progress has been made.”
However, he warned that “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 (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet ’touched.’”
The president added that such strikes would be in “retribution” for “our many soldiers, and others” who have been killed by Iran.
Earlier, Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said countries attacking Iran must promise not to invade the country and recognize its international rights should they want to engage in discussions over a possible reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Get more breaking news on the Iran war with InvestingPro – now 50% off
Aref claimed that Tehran’s “aggressors” were “begging” for negotiations to unblock the strait, a vital waterway off of Iran’s southern coast which has been effectively blocked to oil tanker traffic, driving up oil prices and darkening the outlook for the global economy.
In a statement cited Iranian statement broadcaster IRIB, Aref said the U.S. “must say this golden sentence: ’We will no longer invade Iran and we recognize all of Iran’s international rights.’”
Fighting raged on in the Middle East on Monday, with Iran reportedly firing projectiles at Israel and countries in the Persian Gulf.
The conflict, which is now entering its second month, further widened over the weekend to include Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen. Israel’s military said it has intercepted drone strikes launched from Yemen, further exacerbating fears over the flow of crude supplies.
Analysts have flagged particular concern around possible strikes by Houthis on the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a key choke point for vessel traffic which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
Still, Trump said on Sunday evening that direct negotiations with Iran were ongoing and that a deal with Tehran could be close.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said negotiations were going “extremely well,” and that a deal with Iran was possible, touting “regime change” in Tehran after U.S. strikes killed several top Iranian officials in the past month.
“I think we’ll make a deal with them, but it’s possible we won’t,” the president said. Responding to a reporter’s question, Trump said “I do see a deal with Iran, could be soon,” although he did not offer a specific timeline.
Iran has largely denied that direct talks with Washington had taken place since the late-February onset of the war, and has called for a cessation in hostilities before any negotiations can take place.
Trump declined to answer whether the U.S. would put boots on the ground in Iran, claiming that Washington was “weeks ahead of schedule” with Iran, and had wiped out Tehran’s air force, navy, and missile launch capabilities.
He claimed that Tehran had allowed about 20 oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz claimed concessions to the United States. Reports over the weekend said Iran had allowed 20 Pakistani-flagged vessels to pass through the Strait.
“We are negotiating with (Iran) directly and indirectly… they gave us 20 boats of oil, big big boats of oil going through the Hormuz Strait,” Trump told reporters, adding that the movement would start tomorrow morning.
Yet Trump’s statements came with caveats. Along with a Wall Street Journal report that Trump is mulling a potentially complex and risky plan to extract 1,000 pounds of uranium from Iran, the president told the Financial Times that he wants to take Iran’s oil and could seize Kharg Island, a major export hub for Tehran.
“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” Trump told the FT.
Bets have grown on Polymarket that U.S. troops will enter Iran by April 30, with the likelihood of this happening now standing at 72%. Last week, the chances of a ground operation were roughly 60%.
The probability of an imminent operation kicking off by Tuesday, however, were just 6%.
(Ambar Warrick contributed reporting.)