President Donald Trump has said Iran has violated the fragile ceasefire between the two countries, pledging to attack Iranian power plants and bridges if Tehran doesn’t sign a deal to end the war. “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!” he warned on Truth Social.
Trump said Iran had “decided to fire bullets yesterday” in what he termed a “total violation of our ceasefire agreement” in a lengthy post to social media on Sunday.
A cargo ship was hit by an “unknown projectile” that damaged containers but didn’t spark a fire on Saturday, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre, which is backed by the British military.
The update came shortly after the UKMTO said a tanker northeast of Oman was approached by gun boats operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which fired on the vessel. No one was reported injured.
Trump said Iran had fired at a French ship and a U.K. vessel.
The U.S. and Iran have put in place what are effectively two competing blockades, stopping vessels from passing through the Strait of Hormuz as time ticks down to the expiration date of a two-week ceasefire on Wednesday.
The blocking of the strait, mostly by Iran since the start of March after the U.S. and Israel attacked the country, has wreaked havoc with global markets, fuel prices and concerns over oil and gas supplies.
Iran briefly reopened the strait on Friday but quickly said it would remain shut until the U.S. lifted its blockade on Iran’s ports. The U.S. said it would intercept ships traveling to and from Iran until a peace deal is reached.
Trump said the U.S. was offered “very fair and reasonable” terms to Iran, continuing: “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.”
“They’ll come down fast, they’ll come down easy,” Trump said. “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”
Trump’s previous threats to attack bridges and power plants in Iran was quickly criticized by Democrats in the U.S. and many international experts.
Deliberate attacks on civilians and non-military infrastructure are generally banned under several international agreements designed to limit the horrors of war, like the Geneva Conventions and the United Nations Charter.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency, a semi-official outlet linked to the Iranian military, said on Sunday Tehran had forced two oil tankers, bearing the flags of Botswana and Angola, to turn back from the strait.
Pakistani mediators have attempted to bridge the gap between the U.S. and Iran to reach a more permanent peace deal, with limited success. Trump said on Sunday an American delegation would be in Pakistan on Monday for talks with Iran.
But a senior Iranian official said that while the country was still hoping to clinch an agreement with the U.S., they remained far apart at the negotiating table.
“The gaps remain wide and some fundamental issues are still unresolved,” Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament who has led negotiations with the U.S., told state media on Saturday.
“It is impossible for others to pass through the Strait of Hormuz while we cannot,” Qalibaf added.
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