Trump threatens ´strong military action´ if Iran talks fail

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that he decided to pause U.S. strikes on Iran in order to give negotiations another chance, while warning that he could order a restart of strikes if talks with Iran fail, reported Xinhua.

"We are in very deep talks with Iran. If they don't work out, we will go back to very strong military action," Trump said in an interview with U.S. online news outlet Axios.

Asked how long he was willing to give diplomacy, he said, "Not much time. Either it goes fast or not at all."

Trump said he decided to pause strikes on Friday because the countries that are mediating as well as other countries in the region had asked him to give talks with Iran another chance.

Later, the president told reporters that Iran sought talks only after its military was battered by the U.S. military.

"I think there's a good chance that something could happen," Trump said aboard Air Force One en route to an event in Michigan. "And if it does, good, if it doesn't, we go back to doing what we were doing two days ago."

Trump said that his administration and the Israeli government are "pretty close" to being on the same page regarding Iran.

"We have a little difference, but pretty close," he said of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is expected to visit the White House on Tuesday.

Trump also reiterated that Iranian assets controlled by the United States will be used to cover damage to ships attacked when transiting the Strait of Hormuz. "We're going to use Iran's money to pay for the damage they did," he said.

Negotiations between Oman and Iran have made progress, though no deal has been reached, according to reports citing regional sources.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Monday that Tehran will not let the United States determine the war's end, Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

Noting that the United States has been "stuck in a quagmire" for five months, Baghaei said at a press briefing that Tehran will not allow the U.S. side "to determine the time of war and peace, and we will defend ourselves for as long as necessary."

He added that the United States was not involved in recent talks with Oman over the management of the Strait of Hormuz, which he described as "positive."

"These talks have no connection with the United States. They are a bilateral matter between Iran and Oman, and they are continuing," he said, noting that the waterway "remains closed."

Baghaei said that some Gulf countries have been involved in the U.S. war on Iran, without giving further details.

He also warned of "unforeseen" consequences after Ukraine attacked an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea over the weekend.

In a separate statement posted on X, Baghaei said, "Zelenskyy has attacked an Iranian commercial vessel, killing a sailor," calling it a blatant violation of the UN Charter "done at Israel's behest to drag Europe into its war."

"This action by Ukraine was an absolutely illegal and unjustified act ... as well as a dangerous act of adventurism that will certainly not go unanswered by us," Baghaei said at the press briefing, adding that the consequences of Ukraine's action "will certainly be unforeseen."