US President Donald Trump has criticised Iran's handling of nuclear negotiations hosted by Pakistan, saying Tehran has failed to move toward a deal.
"Iran can't get their act together. They don't know how to sign a non-nuclear deal. They'd better get smart soon," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday.
Trump shared an illustration of himself wearing a black suit and sunglasses while holding a firearm, with explosions in an Iranian landscape behind him, captioned "NO MORE MR. NICE GUY."
The message comes just before Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth's first testimony on the Iran war.
Trump reportedly instructed aides to prepare for an extended blockade of Iran on Tuesday.
He assessed that his other options, to resume bombing or walk away from the conflict, carried more risk than maintaining the blockade.
War on Iran
The US and Israel launched a joint war on Iran on February 28, prompting Tehran to respond with strikes on what it described as US interests across the region, many of them in Gulf countries.
A ceasefire was announced on April 8 through Pakistani mediation, followed by talks hosted in Islamabad on April 11-12, but the negotiations ended without an agreement.
Trump later said the truce had been extended at Pakistan’s request pending a proposal from Tehran.
He signalled on Monday that he was unlikely to accept Iran's latest proposal to end the war after Tehran proposed a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz while leaving questions about its nuclear programme for later negotiations.
Tensions over Tehran's nuclear programme rose before the war broke out, with Trump repeatedly vowing to ensure the country can’t build a nuclear weapon.
Iran has long insisted that its nuclear programme is peaceful. However, it began enriching uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels after the US unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal — formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — in 2018 during Trump’s first administration.
The JCPOA stipulated that Iran would limit its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
