US President Donald Trump has warned Iran the “clock is ticking” as talks to bring the war to an end have stalled.
“They better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. “TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!”
The message came as the president spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, the Times of Israel reported, citing Netanyahu’s office.
On Monday Iran said it had responded to the latest US proposal and that exchanges with Washington were continuing through Pakistani mediators.
“As we announced yesterday, our concerns were conveyed to the American side,” the country’s foreign ministry spokesperson said at a media briefing, the AFP reported.
Iranian media earlier reported the US had failed to make any concrete concessions to Tehran, with the semi-official Mehr news agency saying a lack of compromise would lead to an “impasse in the negotiations”.
Trump’s message echoed his threat that a “whole civilisation” would die unless Iran agreed to a deal to end the war, shortly before the ceasefire was announced in early April.
The president warned earlier this week that truce was on “massive life support” after rejecting Tehran’s demands, labelling them “totally unacceptable”. Esmail Baghaei, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, then insisted they were “responsible” and “generous”.
According to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, the Iranian asks included an immediate end to the war on all fronts – a reference to the continued Israeli attacks against Iran-supported Hezbollah in Lebanon – a halt to the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, and guarantees of no further attacks on Iran.