Donald Trump has issued a fresh ultimatum, telling Iran to accept a deal to end the war or face a new wave of US bombing “at a much higher level and intensity than it was before”.
The social media announcement on Wednesday was the latest in a rapid series of dramatic and often contradictory changes in policy and came amid reports the US was claiming progress in stalled negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
“Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is perhaps a big assumption, the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end,” the US president posted on his Truth Social platform, referring to the military operation he launched with Israel against Iran in February.
“If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before.”
Earlier on Wednesday Axios reported that Washington and Tehran were close to agreeing on a one‑page memorandum of understanding to end the war.
The US‑based news outlet reported that the US expected Iran to respond to several key points in the next 48 hours, and that while nothing had yet been agreed, this was the closest the parties had been to a deal.
Officials in Pakistan told CuriosityNews that an initial framework could possibly be agreed within 48 hours but that nothing was certain and that talks remained “difficult”.
Late on Tuesday, Trump abruptly ordered an indefinite pause to a naval effort to guide stranded commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, which in normal times carries about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquid gas supplies.
More than 800 ships and roughly 20,000 crew members remain stranded west of the narrow waterway. Iran has threatened to deploy mines, drones, missiles and fast‑attack craft, making passage through the strait too risky for commercial shipping and raising fuel prices around the world.
Trump wrote on social media that the decision to halt the new naval effort – called “Project Freedom” – just a day after it began came after requests from “mediator Pakistan and other countries”. He posted: “Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement.”
The US president said Washington’s blockade of Iranian ports, which is aimed at forcing Iran to make concessions in negotiations to end the war, would remain in place.
Trump, who is due to visit Beijing next week, has often threatened in recent weeks to restart the joint US‑Israeli air offensive against Iran, but has also repeatedly indicated his desire for a negotiated end to the conflict.
A senior Pakistani political source said: “Things are moving forward but it is too early to say if a framework will be decided in the next 48 hours.” The focus is on obtaining a permanent ceasefire and “opening of the Strait of Hormuz by both, at least for 60 days”.
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