Trump Says ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy’ if Iran Doesn’t Accept a Deal To End Conflict

President Trump is sending negotiators to meet with Iranian officials at Islamabad on Monday in a new move to end the military conflict now entering its eighth week, even as the president announced on Sunday afternoon that U.S. Naval forces captured an Iranian cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz that had been subject to U.S. Treasury sanctions.“Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them. The U.S. Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS SPRUANCE intercepted the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, and gave them fair warning to stop. The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom. Right now, U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel,” the president wrote on his Truth Social account. “The TOUSKA is under U.S. Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board!” the president continued. On Saturday, Iran reversed itself over allowing ships to pass through the strait, instead firing on a tanker and a container vessel. Two India-flagged ships were also forced to turn around when confronted by Iranian vessels in what India’s Foreign Ministry described as a “serious incident.”Iranian authorities declared Saturday that the status of the strait — a chokepoint controlling as much as 20 percent of the world’s oil supply — had “returned to its previous state,” in which the Islamic Republic would fire on any vessels attempting to pass through without its approval.They said the closure would continue until America lifts its blockade of Iranian shipping and ports. Mr. Trump responded Sunday by calling the attacks a “Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement!” Many of the attacks “were aimed at a French Ship, and a Freighter from the United Kingdom. That wasn’t nice, was it?” the president said, adding that Iran cannot close the strait when the U.S. already had a blockade on it, a countermove taken after Iran initially announced it would fire on ships that attempted passage.Energy Secretary Chris Wright acknowledged that Iranian missiles are threatening travel through the strait but claimed that the Islamic Republic’s actions are not causing traffic to stall in the strait. Rather, ships are pausing their travel because they are waiting for a peace deal to emerge.“Why risk an encounter a few days early?” Mr. Wright told Fox News Sunday, adding, “We are not too far away from a deal but of course these are the dying gasps of a desperate regime.” But resistance by the Islamic Republic continues, even as Iranian officials offer conflicting accounts about their willingness to negotiate and how close the two sides are on their demands.As negotiators head to Pakistan, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said it is not willing to hand over 970 pounds of enriched uranium to the United States, calling the idea “a nonstarter.” Iran’s foreign minister also told CNN that the parties are far from a deal.In an interview with the Associated Press, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Saeed Khatibzadeh, did not say which terms Iran would accept over disposing of the enriched uranium, but “we are ready to address any concerns.” Mr. Wright responded that he is confident that the “Iranian nuclear program is over.”Mr. Trump warned that America will knock out Iran’s bridges and power plants if a deal isn’t reached soon. “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 president wrote in a lengthy Sunday morning Truth Social post. “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. IT’S TIME FOR THE IRAN KILLING MACHINE TO END!” he added.Scoffing at Democratic criticism that such a tactic would constitute a war crime, the president’s ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, told NBC’s Meet the Press that such a statement is wrong and irresponsible. “We have a long history of taking down bridges, power plants, and other infrastructure that is powering Iran’s military. And they have a long history of conflating civilian and military assets including hiding weapons caches, rockets, and military hardware in schools, hospitals, and other civilian neighborhoods, which is a war crime on Iran’s part,” he said.

Trump Says ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy’ if Iran Doesn’t Accept a Deal To End Conflict

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