President Donald Trump on Monday said he is making progress in negotiations with Iran’s leaders, but he threatened further attacks if they do not agree to a deal soon.
“The United States of America is in serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran,” Trump wrote in a social media post in the fifth week of Operation Epic Fury.
Trump did not clarify the Iranian individuals or factions involved in the discussions.
His remarks came after he told The Daily Signal on Sunday that a deal to resolve the conflict “could be soon.”
Trump added in the Monday post that “great progress has been made.”
He added that “if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached” and the Strait of Hormuz is not opened, then the U.S. military would finish the campaign by destroying Iran’s “Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island,” and “possibly all desalination plants.”
Kharg Island, located off Iran’s coast in the Persian Gulf, is a major oil terminal.
An arid nation that has long suffered from drought, Iran relies on desalination plants to maintain its freshwater supply.
The president said last week he would pause attacks on Iran’s energy plants for 10 days, which would be until April 6.
Iran has sent the price of oil upward by attacking oil tankers attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, located between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Brent crude futures jumped by $2.42, or 2.2%, to almost $115 a barrel on Monday morning, and were on course for a record monthly rise.
Iran on Monday described U.S. proposals to end a month of war in the Middle East as “unrealistic, illogical and excessive” and unleashed more missiles on Israel.
Israel’s military said two drones from Yemen had also been intercepted on Monday, two days after the Iran-aligned Houthis fired missiles at Israel for the first time since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran that has spread across the region. Lebanon’s Hezbollah also fired rockets at Israel on Monday.
Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell contributed to this report.
Reuters contributed to this report.
