United States President Donald Trump has issued a stern warning to Iran, urging the nation to ‘get smart soon’ following Tehran’s proposal to postpone a deal on its nuclear program.
On his Truth Social platform on Wednesday, Trump stated, ‘Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!’ The president accompanied his message with an AI-generated image of himself carrying an assault rifle, set against a backdrop of exploding bombs on a mountainside, with a banner proclaiming: ‘NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!’
These latest threats emerge amidst escalating uncertainty surrounding the fragile US-Iran ceasefire, just days after President Trump called off the most recent round of talks with Tehran. While Washington indicated it was reviewing Tehran’s proposal, the response was reportedly lukewarm. The White House emphasized that Trump would ‘not be rushed into making a bad deal’ and reiterated that ‘Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.’
Rob Geist Pinfold, a lecturer in international security at King’s College London, commented to Al Jazeera that while ‘we’ve gone past the stage… for a physical war,’ both Tehran and Trump are engaged in a phase of ‘intense competition.’ Pinfold explained, ‘Both sides are basically trying to signal to the other that they have more resilience, that time is on their side.’
Tehran’s proposal aims to ‘defer all of the difficult issues until later’ by prioritizing the cessation of the war and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. However, Pinfold noted that this tactic ‘simply doesn’t work for the Americans because they feel like if they give up on basically the leverage they have – the physical force leverage – the war could resume.’
Concurrently, Washington has asserted that it has intensified financial pressure on Tehran. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced in a post on X late Tuesday that his department has ‘targeted Iran’s international shadow banking infrastructure, access to crypto, shadow fleet, and weapons procurement networks.’ Last week, the Treasury sanctioned an independent Chinese oil refinery for purchasing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian oil, alongside 40 shipping firms and vessels allegedly operating as part of Iran’s shadow fleet. Bessent claimed these actions ‘have disrupted tens of billions of dollars in revenue’ and contributed to the ‘rapid’ depreciation of Iranian currency.
On Wednesday, the Iranian rial plummeted to a new record low against the US dollar, losing approximately 6 percent of its value since the war began. According to currency-tracking websites Bonbast and AlanChand, the rial was trading at about 1.8 million rials against the dollar on the black market, compared to approximately 1.7 million rials when the conflict commenced at the end of February.
As diplomatic talks remain stalled, Iranian authorities have reportedly escalated efforts to prosecute protesters and dissidents. United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk stated on Wednesday that at least 21 individuals have been executed and over 4,000 arrested since the start of the war in Iran. His office reported that nine people were executed in connection with Iran’s mass January protests, ten for alleged membership in opposition groups, and two on espionage charges. Turk expressed his dismay, stating, ‘I am appalled that – on top of the already severe impacts of the conflict – the rights of the Iranian people continue to be stripped from them by the authorities, in harsh and brutal ways.’ The UN further indicated that many of the 4,000 arrested individuals have disappeared, been tortured, or subjected to other forms of illegal punishment. Iran’s newly enhanced espionage law permits authorities to execute and seize the property of those accused of a broad spectrum of activities related to ‘hostile states and groups.’
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