'NO MORE MR NICE GUY': Trump again threatens Iran's power plants over Hormuz closure

Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC yesterday. Alamy Stock Photo

Deadlock

Traffic in the vital trade route has been at a standstill today.

LAST UPDATE | 3 hrs ago

US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has said negotiators will be in Pakistan tomorrow to resume talks on ending the war with Iran, as he once again threatened to destroy its power plants and bridges if no deal is reached.

In a Truth Social post, Trump also accused Iran of violating the countries' two-week ceasefire with attacks yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said he was offering Iran "a reasonable deal" and if Tehran says no "the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!"

In his fresh threat, Trump said of Iran's bridges and power plants: "They'll come down fast, they'll come down easy and, if they dont 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."

The Strait of Hormuz remained closed today in the stand-off between Iran and the United States.

Tehran declared it shut again to maritime traffic after it on Friday had announced it was reopening, spurring elation on global markets.

As mediation efforts continued following high-level talks in Pakistan on April 11 and 12 that failed to reach a deal, Iran said it would not reopen the crucial maritime trade route until the United States ended its blockade of Iranian ports.

As mediation efforts continued following high-level talks in Pakistan that failed to reach a deal, Iran said it will not allow the crucial maritime trade chokepoint to re-open until the United States ends a blockade of Iranian ports.

A women member of the Basij paramilitary, affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard, holds a machine gun during a state-organised rally in Tehran. Vahid Salemi / AP Vahid Salemi / AP / AP

This morning, the entrance to the Gulf appeared to be at a standstill, with tracking data showing the strait itself empty of shipping.

The day before, a trio of incidents demonstrated the dangers of any attempted crossing.

A UK maritime security agency said the Revolutionary Guards fired at one tanker, while security intelligence firm Vanguard Tech reported the force had threatened to "destroy" an empty cruise ship that was fleeing the Gulf.

In the third incident, the UK agency said it received a report of a vessel "being hit by an unknown projectile, which caused damage" to shipping containers but no fire.

The Indian foreign ministry said it had summoned the Iranian ambassador to lodge a protest over a "shooting incident" involving two Indian-flagged ships in the strait.

'Fundamental' issues in talks

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament, said in a televised address last 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 the talks aimed at ending the war launched by Israel and the United States against the Islamic republic.

A two-week ceasefire is set to end on Wednesday unless it is renewed.

US President Donald Trump said "very good conversations" were going on with Iran but warned Tehran against trying to "blackmail" the United States.

On Friday, Tehran had declared the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas usually transits, open after a temporary ceasefire was agreed to halt Israel's war with Iran's ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.

That prompted elation in global markets and sent oil prices plunging, but Tehran reversed course after Trump insisted the US blockade of Iranian ports would continue until a final deal was struck.

"If America does not lift the blockade, traffic in the Strait of Hormuz will definitely be limited," Ghalibaf said.

Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has yet to be seen since taking power after his father was killed in the war's opening strikes, said in a written message that Iran's navy "stands ready" to defeat the United States.

Trump accused Iran of getting "a little cute" with its recent moves and warned Tehran not to try to "blackmail" Washington by flip-flopping on the strait.

"We have very good conversations going on," the president told reporters at the White House, adding that the United States was "taking a tough stand".

With reporting by PA and AFP

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