Trump says US officials will be in Pakistan tomorrow for negotiations

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Sunday that representatives are going to Islamabad, “tomorrow evening” for Iran negotiations.

With shipping still stuck in the strait two days after Trump and Iran announced it would open, Trump said his envoys would arrive in Pakistan on Monday evening, prepared to hold more talks.

“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable deal, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single power plant, and every single bridge, in Iran,” Trump wrote.

“NO MORE MR. NICE GUY! They’ll come down fast, and they’ll come down easy, and if they don’t take the DEAL, it will be my Honor to do what has to be done, which should have been done to Iran, by other Presidents, for the last 47 years. IT’S TIME FOR THE IRAN KILLING MACHINE TO END!”

Global oil prices fell and stock markets surged on Friday when Iran first announced it would reopen the strait, which it had effectively closed to all shipping apart from its own since Trump and Israel launched the war on February 28.

But after Trump said he would continue a blockade of Iranian shipping, Tehran said on Saturday it was keeping the strait closed. At least two ships reported they had been fired upon approaching the strait on Saturday.

Trump said that Iran decided to fire bullets a day ago in the Strait of Hormuz, terming it a total violation of the ceasefire agreement. Many of the fires were aimed at a French ship, and a freighter from the United Kingdom, he added. “That wasn’t nice, was it?”

The US president also said by closing the Strait of Hormuz, Iran was helping the US and inflicting loss on its own economy.

“Iran recently announced that they were closing the strait, which is strange, because our blockade has already closed it. They’re helping us without knowing, and they are the ones that lose with the closed passage, $500 million dollars a day! The United States loses nothing. In fact, many ships are headed, right now, to the U.S., Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska, to load up, compliments of the IRGC, always wanting to be “the tough guy!””

Meanwhile, there is currently no decision by Iran to send a negotiating delegation to Pakistan “as long as there is a naval blockade,” Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday, citing its reporter.

Pakistan tightens security in Islamabad

Security in Islamabad was stepped up visibly on Sunday ahead of peace talks between the United States and Iran in the coming days.

President Trump said US negotiators will be in Pakistan on Monday to resume talks on ending the war with Iran, little more than a week after face-to-face talks in Islamabad on April 11 ended without agreement.

Authorities earlier announced road closures and traffic restrictions across the city, as well as in neighbouring Rawalpindi.

AFP journalists saw armed guards and checkpoints near Islamabad’s most secure hotels, including the Marriott and the Serena, where the last round of talks between US and Iranian delegations took place.

Most streets leading to the Serena Hotel were closed on Sunday, with barbed wire, barricades, heavy security and traffic diversions.

“Citizens are earnestly requested to cooperate with the security agencies,” a city official posted on X.