Washington | US President Donald Trump on Sunday said his representatives will be in Pakistan on Monday for the second round of talks with Iran and renewed threats to destroy bridges and power plants in the Gulf nation if it fails to reach a peace deal.
Trump's announcement comes a week after the US and Iran held rare direct talks on April 11 and 12 in Islamabad aimed at ending their conflict, but concluded without any agreement.
“My Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan — They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
It was not immediately clear whether the American negotiating team will be led by Vice President J D Vance, who was in Islamabad for the first round of talks where the US insisted that Iran give up its rights to enrich nuclear fuel.
“Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are heading to the Middle East,” Trump told Fox News. “They will be leaving (Monday). Their meeting will begin on Tuesday morning. It’s a very simple deal, they’ve agreed to much of it,” he said about Special Envoy Witkoff and Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, who had accompanied Vance during the first round of talks.
The two-week ceasefire agreed by the US and Iran on April 8 ends on April 22.
The first round of talks, led by Vance, went on for 21 hours but failed to reach an agreement for lasting peace.
Pakistan soon re-launched its diplomatic efforts to facilitate another round of talks in Islamabad for a possible final agreement to end the war between the US and Iran.
Starting April 15, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye while Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir spent three days in Iran to create a consensus on contentious issues.
As Sharif and Munir wrapped up their respective visits to the Middle East, reports had begun to circulate about the second round of talks in Islamabad.
The standoff over the Strait of Hormuz – one of the sticking points during the first round of talks – escalated on Saturday as Iran closed and fired on ships attempting to cross the narrow strait as the US pushed ahead with its blockade of the Iranian ports.
Trump slammed the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Council for violating the ceasefire by firing upon ships transiting the Hormuz Strait.
“Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz — A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement!” he wrote, alleging that Iranian forces targeted vessels in the strategic waterway, including a French ship and a UK-flagged freighter.
Trump made no reference to two Indian vessels that came under attack in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday.
On Sunday, Trump said, “IT’S TIME FOR THE IRAN KILLING MACHINE TO END.”
Trump threatened to destroy the civilian infrastructure in Iran if it doesn't take the deal that the US is offering.
“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and 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,” the US President said.
“They’ll come down fast, they’ll come down easy and, 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 said.
Trump described Iran’s decision to close the Hormuz Strait as “strange,” asserting that the narrow waterway was already shut down because of the blockade imposed by the US.
