President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance gave a clear ultimatum to Iran on Tuesday, demanding Tehran either agree to a peace deal that prevents it from getting a nuclear weapon or face another military bombardment.
Mr. Trump issued a short timeline for potential U.S. military strikes on Iran, giving the Islamic republic “two to three days” to make a deal to end the war or face “another big hit.”
While on a morning walking tour of the construction site of the new White House ballroom, the president reiterated his willingness to restart military strikes but said he would let negotiations play out a bit longer.
“Maybe Friday or Saturday, early next week. A limited period of time,” he said when asked how long he would wait to restart strikes.
President Donald Trump tours Ballroom construction …
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He also complained that Democratic lawmakers are impeding the war.
“You’re winning every point. But in Washington, they want to stop you from negotiating,” Mr. Trump said. “They want to stop you, and it’s only political. It’s the Democrats. They’re dumb.”
Mr. Vance echoed those comments, saying the president doesn’t want to restart strikes but would if Iran stalls.
“It takes two to tango,” Mr. Vance said at the White House briefing, which he assumed in Karoline Leavitt’s absence while she’s on maternity leave. “We’re locked and loaded. We don’t want to go down that pathway, but the president is willing and able to go down that pathway if we have to.”
The U.S. and Israel launched the war against Iran on Feb. 28, declaring that the Islamic republic could never obtain a nuclear weapon. The two sides agreed to a two-week ceasefire in April, which has since been extended indefinitely.
Iran, meanwhile, insisted Tuesday that the extended ceasefire has given its armed forces plenty of time to prepare.
Mohammad Akraminia, chief spokesman for Iran’s army, said the Islamic republic’s armed forces have treated the ceasefire “as a time of war” and have positioned themselves to respond to future attacks by the U.S. and Israel.
He added that if Iran is attacked again, its military will open “new fronts” with new tools and methods, though he did not detail what those would be.
White Mr. Trump has repeatedly boasted that Iran’s formal navy is “at the bottom of the sea” and that its air force has been destroyed, Iran’s asymmetric warfare capabilities remain a persistent threat.
The president threatened to relaunch strikes last weekend after rejecting Iran’s latest peace proposal and convened a meeting with senior military staff to discuss options. However, he publicly called off an imminent attack on Monday on the advice of Gulf leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
The reversal comes as the U.S. and Iran continue to exchange diplomatic proposals through Pakistani mediators in hopes of breaking a stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz.
Washington has demanded that Iran dismantle its nuclear infrastructure and hand over its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium while eliminating its support for proxy groups and allowing for the free movement of commercial vessels through Hormuz.
Iran has repeatedly refused to discuss the nuclear issue until hostilities have officially ended and has called for sanctions relief, the unfreezing of Iranian assets and war reparations. Tehran has said it’s open to discussing pauses of its nuclear issue after it receives assurances that the U.S. will not resume attacks.
Iran has also demanded that the U.S. recognize its control over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and has insisted that it will govern the passage even after the war ends.
Iran has kept the strait effectively closed since early March with a combination of small boats, missiles and drones.
At least 20% of the world’s oil travels through the strait, and its closure has driven up oil prices and U.S. gas prices. Crude prices hovered just over $100 a barrel on Tuesday, and average U.S. gas prices sat at $4.53 a gallon.
Mr. Trump has sought to downplay the war’s economic effects and argued on Tuesday that the higher prices are “peanuts” compared with preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“We want to see the world exploded? You want to see a problem?” Mr. Trump said. “This is peanuts, and I appreciate everyone putting up with it for a while; it won’t be much longer.”
Mr. Trump has said prices will come down quickly this year due to pent-up supply when the war ends. But Democratic lawmakers have cast the president’s comments about rising prices as out of touch with the struggles of everyday Americans.
Mr. Vance defended Mr. Trump, arguing that the president does care about the cost of gas but that he is mostly concerned about winning the war.
“What he said is that when he is negotiating with Iranians, he is focused on the national security objectives that he is trying to achieve,” the vice president said.
