President Trump said on Tuesday that he doesn’t want to extend the ceasefire with Iran, which will expire on Wednesday, and that he’s ready to restart the bombing campaign against the country, as it’s still unclear if negotiations will take place in Pakistan.
Trump made the comments in an interview with CNBC, where he insisted that he still expects the US to make a “great deal” with Iran but said that time was running out. When asked if he would allow the truce to continue if there was diplomatic progress but no agreement, he said, “Well, I don’t want to do that. We don’t have that much time.”
Trump said that the US has used the ceasefire to “restock” its military and insisted that Iran’s military has been destroyed, though according to US officials speaking to The New York Times, US intelligence assesses that Tehran likely has access to the majority of its missiles and launchers.
The president was then asked if he would resume bombing Iran if a deal isn’t reached on Tuesday and Wednesday, and said, “Well, I expect to be bombing because I think that’s a better attitude to go in with. But we’re ready to go. I mean, the military is raring to go.”
As of early Tuesday afternoon in the US, Vice President JD Vance, US envoy Steve Witkoff, and President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have still not departed for talks in Pakistan, and Iranian media is reporting that no Iranian delegation has arrived as Iranian officials are insisting they will not negotiate “under the shadow of threats.”
Pakistan’s information minister said in a statement that a “formal response from Iranian side about confirmation of delegation to attend Islamabad Peace Talks is still awaited.”
Iranian officials have also said they won’t attend the talks if the US maintains the blockade on Iranian ports, a message Pakistan relayed to Trump. But there’s no sign the US will ease the blockade as the US military boarded an Iran-linked tanker in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday, though Iran’s military said that an Iranian ship was able to get past the US warships in the Gulf of Oman.
