Iranian newspapers ridicule what they call US President Donald Trump's "lies" about ongoing diplomatic discussions to end the war, publishing cartoons of him styled as Pinocchio. Photo / AFP
Iranian newspapers ridicule what they call US President Donald Trump's "lies" about ongoing diplomatic discussions to end the war, publishing cartoons of him styled as Pinocchio. Photo / AFP
United States President Donald Trump is ready to “unleash hell” if Iran doesn’t accept a deal to end the war in the Middle East, the White House warned today, but a defiant Tehran says it does not intend to negotiate.
The ramped-up rhetoric dashed hopes of any imminent de-escalation, asthe violence on the ground showed no sign of abating after almost four weeks.
Trump insisted later Wednesday that Iran was taking part in peace talks, but Tehran is denying it because their negotiators fear being killed by their own side.
“They are negotiating, by the way, and they want to make a deal so badly,” Trump told a dinner for Republican members of Congress.
“But they’re afraid to say it, because they figure they’ll be killed by their own people. They’re also afraid they’ll be killed by us.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denied Iran was negotiating with the United States, saying an exchange of messages through “friendly countries” did not equate to talks with Washington.
“We do not intend to negotiate,” Araghchi told state TV. “We seek an end to the war on our own terms.”
In Pakistan, officials said Islamabad had conveyed to Tehran a 15-point American plan to stop the fighting that began on February 28.
Iran’s state-controlled Press TV cited an unidentified official as saying Tehran had “responded negatively” to the plan and the war would end only on Tehran’s terms, which include guarantees against future attacks.
‘Unleash hell’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said talks had been “productive” but declined to say whom the United States was dealing with in Tehran after the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
His son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public.
“If Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment... Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before,” Leavitt said. “President Trump does not bluff and he is prepared to unleash hell.”
With thousands more US troops reportedly headed to the Middle East, Iran also threatened to open a new front by targeting Red Sea shipping should the United States launch a ground invasion.
Iran’s military said cruise missiles fired at the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group had “forced it to change its position” and warned of “powerful strikes” when the fleet comes into range.
Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, said the United States had hit two-thirds of Iran’s production facilities for missiles and drones, and drone and missile launch rates were down by 90%.
In a video on X, Cooper also estimated 92% of the Iranian navy’s largest vessels had been damaged or destroyed.
“They’ve now lost the ability to meaningfully project naval power and influence around the region and around the world,” he said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the war was “out of control” and had “gone too far”.
According to the New York Times, the American 15-point plan touches on Iran’s contested nuclear and missile programmes, as well as “maritime routes”.
Tehran has largely blocked the vital Strait of Hormuz oil route in retaliation for the US-Israeli attacks, pushing up global energy prices.
The Iranian official quoted by Press TV said Tehran has put forward its own five conditions for hostilities to end.
These include a robust mechanism guaranteeing that neither Israel nor the US will resume the war as well as compensation for war damages.
Iran’s conditions also include a cessation of hostilities on all regional fronts and against all “resistance groups” – an implicit reference to the Tehran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Tehran also wants international recognition and guarantees of Iran’s rights to exercise its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.
Red Sea threat
In the event of a US invasion, Iran would block the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, an unnamed military official told local media.
Iran supports and arms the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, which greatly reduced Red Sea traffic in October 2023 when it began attacking vessels in retaliation for Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli air strike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Dayr Seryan. Photo / AFP
Iran says Strait of Hormuz ‘closed only to enemies’
While striking targets in Iran, Israel kept up its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, where Israeli warplanes pounded the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country’s forces were expanding a “buffer zone” in southern Lebanon and dismantling Hezbollah “remains central” to Israel’s objectives in Lebanon.
Lebanon was pulled into the war when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
According to Lebanese authorities, more than 1000 people have been killed in more than three weeks of Israeli strikes and upwards of one million people displaced.
With the war sending energy prices soaring, fuelling fears of higher inflation and weaker global growth, markets remained focused on the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil usually passes.
Araghchi said the strait was “closed only to enemies”, adding that “there is no reason to allow the ships of our enemies and their allies to pass”.
Stock markets rallied and oil prices tumbled on initial reports over potential negotiations, but today the Brent crude benchmark crept back above US$100 ($172) a barrel.
