Trump says U.S. negotiators will be in Pakistan on Mon. for peace talks with Iran | Yonhap News Agency

WASHINGTON, April 19 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that U.S. negotiators will be in Pakistan the following day for peace talks with Iran, renewing his threat to destroy Iranian power plants and bridges if the Islamic Republic does not agree to a deal.

Trump made the remarks in a social media post after tensions flared anew this weekend as Iran reimposed control over the crucial Strait of Hormuz and reportedly fired on vessels transiting the waterway, in response to Trump's decision to leave in place a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports until a peace deal is signed.

"My Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan -- They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

This photo, released by the Associated Press, shows U.S. President Donald Trump attending an event at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on April 18, 2026. (Yonhap)

He claimed the United States is offering a "very fair and reasonable" deal, heaping pressure on Tehran to accept it, as the two countries' temporary ceasefire is set to end on Tuesday (Washington time).

"I hope they take it because, if they don't, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY! They'll come down fast, they'll come down easy," he said.

"If they don't take the DEAL, it will be my Honor to do what has to be done, which should have been done to Iran, by other Presidents, for the last 47 years."

Trump criticized Iran's attacks on ships Saturday as a "total" violation of the ceasefire agreement.

"Many of them were aimed at a French Ship, and a Freighter from the United Kingdom. That wasn't nice, was it?" he said.

He also called Iran's closure of the strait "strange."

"Because our BLOCKADE has already closed it. They're helping us without knowing, and they are the ones that lose with the closed passage, $500 Million Dollars a day! The United States loses nothing," he said.

Meanwhile, Iran's top negotiator, Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said in a televised address that "many gaps and some fundamental points remain," and that Washington and Tehran are still "far from the final discussion," according to Al Jazeera.

In recent days, Trump has repeatedly expressed his optimism over the status of the negotiations, claiming that Iran has agreed not to have a nuclear weapon, and pledged to hand over the "nuclear dust," a term that he uses to refer to Iran's enriched uranium stockpile that can be used to build a bomb.

Washington and Tehran held the first round of their peace talks in Islamabad from April 11-12, but failed to reach a deal. Vice President JD Vance, a top U.S. negotiator, had called for Iran to provide an affirmative commitment not to seek a nuclear weapon.

sshluck@yna.co.kr

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