President Donald Trump threatened to ‘blow up the rest of Iran and its leaders’ as he warned that he would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The US commander-in-chief announced hours earlier that he was indefinitely extending the ceasefire with Iran.Â
The announcement came just one day before the ceasefire was set to expire as questions remained about whether there would be a second round of peace talks.Â
But in an inflammatory post on his Truth Social page Tuesday night, the president denied that he would reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil supply traverses.Â
‘Iran doesn’t want the Strait of Hormuz closed, they want it open so they can make $500 Million Dollars a day (which is, therefore, what they are losing if it is closed!),’ Trump wrote.
‘They only say they want it closed because I have it totally BLOCKADED (CLOSED!), so they merely want to ‘save face,” he argued.Â
‘People approached me four days ago, saying, ‘Sir, Iran wants to open up the Strait, immediately,” the president continued.Â
‘But if we do that, there can never be a Deal with Iran, unless we blow up the rest of their Country, their leaders included!’
President Donald Trump threatened to ‘blow up the rest of’ Iran and ‘its leaders’ in a Truth Social post on Tuesday night
He said he would not reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz
The White House had been planning to send Vice President JD Vance to Pakistan to negotiate an end to the war with Iranian officials, but the administration put the trip on hold amid Iran’s rebuffed efforts to restart negotiations.
Iran has not yet responded to Trump’s announcement of the ceasefire extension. Both countries have warned that, without a deal, they were prepared to resume fighting.
Tehran has also said it has no plans to continue another round of talks with the US due to Trump’s naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.Â
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei, for example, told Iran´s state TV there has been ‘no final decision’ on whether to agree to more talks because of ‘unacceptable actions’ by the US – apparently referring to the blockade of Iranian ports.
Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani also said ending the blockade remains a condition for Iran to rejoin peace talks. When that happens, he said, ‘I think the next round of the negotiations will take place.’
But in a Truth Social post announcing the ceasefire extension, Trump vowed that the US would continue the blockade.
He said that ‘based on the fact that the government of Iran is seriously fractured’, the US military would hold off striking ‘until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal.’
‘I have therefore directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other,’ Trump added.Â
The White House had been planning to send Vice President JD Vance to Pakistan to engage with Iranian leadersÂ
Both the US and Iran have warned that without a deal they would resume fighting. A plume of smoke is seen rising following a strike on Tehran in MarchÂ
The president also noted that the latest ceasefire extension came at the request of Pakistani intermediaries after peace talks with Iran stalled over Trump’s naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The president imposed the blockade after Tehran refused to suspend its nuclear program. He reportedly aimed to use the blockade to pressure Tehran back into peace talks after the initial Vance-led negotiations collapsed.
In recent days, US forces have begun boarding and seizing tankers destined for Iranian ports.
At the same time, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were expected in Washington on Tuesday afternoon for consultations about how best to proceed, according to a US official who spoke on the condition of anonymity with the Associated Press.
The official cautioned that Trump could change his mind on negotiating with Iran at any time, and declined to predict what would happen. The official said Trump has options short of restarting airstrikes.
Peace talks have reached a standstill over Trump’s naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for a fifth of global oil trade
Tehran said it has no plans to continue another round of talks with the US due to Trump’s naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz
As the president now weighs his options, he lambasted a Wall Street Journal columnist for penning an op-ed entitled ‘The Iranians Take Trump for a Sucker.’
‘An IDIOT on The Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board, named Elliot Kaufman, just wrote an Op Ed entitled, ‘The Iranians Take Trump for a Sucker.’ Really?,’ Trump wrote on his Truth Social page.Â
‘For 47 years, they have killed our people, and many others, and taken advantage of every President, except me — And what did I give to them, a Country in tatters!’
Trump then went on to extoll his victories in Iran, claiming that ‘their entire Navy is at the bottom of the Sea, their Air Force is gone… their Nuclear Labs and Storage Areas were OBLITERATED.’
He also noted that General Qasem Soleimani, whom he called an ‘evil genius who destroyed the lives of so many with his favored roadside bombs,’ was killed by US forces in 2020 and argued that Iran ‘is an Economic Catastrophe, that is hanging by a thread.’Â
Trump hit out at Wall Street Journal columnist Elliot Kaufman on Truth SocialÂ
The president also hit out at former President Barack Obama for his nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic and claimed ‘other presidents did nothing to stop them, a BLIGHT on the Office of the Presidency.
‘But despite all of this, I have a MORON on the Editorial Board of The Wall Street Journal writing about me being taken for a ‘sucker,” he wrote.
‘Iran certainly doesn’t think so!’ the president argued. ‘Neither does anyone else.’Â
‘I guess Rupert Murdoch told him to write it this way because The Wall Street Journal has lost its way, no longer required reading, just another failing political ‘RAG!,’ he said of the owner of the storied newspaper.
