President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iran would be bombed “at a very high level” if it did not agree to a peace deal, sparking tensions as media outlets reported that Washington and Tehran were moving closer to an agreement to end the war.
Trump in a Truth Social post on Wednesday said the US military offensive known as Operation Epic Fury “will end” if Iran “will give what it agreed to, which is probably, a big deal.”
If that happens, the blockade of US warships in Iranian ports in the Gulf of Oman “will allow the Strait of Hormuz to be OPEN TO ALL, including Iran,” Trump wrote.
But “if they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and, unfortunately, it will be at a higher level and intensity than before,” he added.
Trump sent after Axios reported that the US and Iran were close to the same page, a 14-point memorandum of understanding that would end the war and establish a framework for further negotiations.
Washington expects answers from Tehran on “several key points” in the next 48 hours, Axios reported earlier Wednesday.
Stock indexes jumped and oil prices hit the headlines, in what appeared to be one of the strongest signs yet that the more than two-month war was about to come to a head.
But Trump told The New York Post later Wednesday that it was “too soon” to begin thinking about another round of in-person peace talks with Iran.
Trump also told PBS News that the war “has a very good chance of ending,” but added, “if it doesn’t, we have to go back to blasting the hell out of them.”
At an event Wednesday to celebrate Mother’s Day with military families, Trump told reporters Iran wants to reach an agreement to end the war.
“We are working with people who want to make a deal more, and we will see if they can make a deal that will satisfy us,” he said.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told reporters on Wednesday that Tehran is still reviewing the proposal and will present its response to Pakistani negotiators.
In an X post published after Trump’s Public Truth statement, Baqaei appeared to be quoting the International Court of Justice, writing, “The concept of ‘negotiations’ requires, at a minimum, a genuine attempt to engage in negotiations with the aim of resolving the dispute (ICJ, Judgment of 1 April 2011, paragraph 157).
“It requires ‘good faith’ meaning that ‘negotiations’ are not ‘arguments’; nor are they ‘summons’, ‘deceit’, ‘fraud’ or ‘coercion,'” Baqaei wrote.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who met Wednesday with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, said both Tehran and Beijing “reaffirmed Iran’s right to respect its sovereignty and national dignity.” In a text to X, Araghchi said “Iran trusts China,” adding that he looks forward to strengthening strategic ties between the two countries.
Before Trump’s post Wednesday morning, a Pakistani government official told MS NOW, “The prospect of a proposal to end the war is very likely in the coming days.”
The Axios report said the memo under consideration would include Iran committing to a halt to nuclear enrichment, the US lifting sanctions on Iran and both sides withdrawing from controlling shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Many conditions are reportedly dependent on the final agreement between the delegations of the two countries.
A ceasefire between the US and Iran has been in place since April 7 to allow talks, but the outbreak of hostilities has often looked fragile.
Earlier this week, Iran attacked US military personnel helping commercial ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and then attacked the United Arab Emirates again. The US, on the other hand, said it was sinking six small Iranian boats that were trying to interfere with commercial vessels sailing in the waters.
US Central Command said in an X-mail on Wednesday that it had disabled an Iranian-flagged oil tanker that was trying to sail to an Iranian port – in violation of a US embargo – by firing “several times” at it with gunfire.
Hopes of an end to the conflict resurfaced on Tuesday when Trump said he was suspending “Project Freedom” – a US military operation aimed at directing ships out of the Strait of Hormuz – a day after he began to see if a peace deal could be concluded.
“Major progress has been made toward a Comprehensive and Final Agreement” with Iran, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Tuesday night.
