“No more Mr. Nice Guy”: Trump says Iran must be “smart” about nuclear deal
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US President Donald Trump on Wednesday continued his threats against Iran, as efforts to end the Middle East war appeared at a standstill.
“Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal,” Trump said on Truth Social, attaching a photo of him with sunglasses, holding a gun, with explosions behind, and a caption reading “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY”.
“They [Iran] better get smart soon!”
The United States is considering Tehran's latest offer to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran says Washington could no longer dictate terms.
Iran has blockaded the waterway -- a vital conduit for oil and gas shipments -- since the start of the US-‘Israeli’ offensive two months ago, sending shockwaves through the global economy.
US officials did not dispute accounts by CNN and The Wall Street Journal that Trump was sceptical of the proposal.
Oil prices soared above $110 a barrel -- their highest level since the US-Iran ceasefire -- as the market felt new jitters over renewed conflict.
Qatar -- a US ally that was hit by Iranian strikes despite its role as a mediator -- warned of the possibility of a "frozen conflict" if a definitive resolution is not found.
"We do not want to see a return to hostilities in the region anytime soon. We do not want to see a frozen conflict that ends up being thawed every time there is a political reason," Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said at a press conference.
The Iranian proposal, passed along by Pakistan and studied by Trump administration officials in a meeting Monday, laid out red lines including on nuclear issues and Hormuz, according to Iran's Fars news agency.
The plan would reportedly see Tehran ease its chokehold on the strait and Washington lift its retaliatory blockade on Iranian ports while broader negotiations continue, including over the thorny question of Iran's nuclear program.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the proposal was "better than what we thought they were going to submit" but questioned if the Iranian officials behind it had authority, following ‘Israeli’ killings of senior officials.
Rubio, in a Fox News interview, said that US demands to reopen the strait meant "going back to the way it should be" and was before the US-‘Israeli’ attack.
"They're very good negotiators," Rubio said, adding any eventual deal had to be "one that definitively prevents them from sprinting towards a nuclear weapon."
