US President Donald Trump has warned Iran that it must 'get smart soon' after Tehran proposed postponing a deal on its nuclear programme, raising the stakes in a fragile ceasefire.
'Iran can't get their act together. They don't know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!' Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, accompanied by an AI-generated image of himself holding an assault rifle with bombs exploding in the background, captioned 'NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!'.
The threats come amid growing uncertainty over the US-Iran ceasefire, days after Trump called off the latest round of talks. While Washington claimed to be reviewing Tehran's proposal, the White House reportedly gave a lukewarm response, stressing that Trump would 'not be rushed into making a bad deal' and that 'Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon'.
Rob Geist Pinfold, a lecturer in international security at King's College London, told Al Jazeera that both sides are in a stage of 'intense competition', with Tehran's proposal allegedly 'deferring all difficult issues' by prioritising ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, the US regime has claimed to impose additional financial pressure on Tehran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said 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 buying hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian oil, along with 40 shipping firms and vessels allegedly operating as part of Iran's shadow fleet.
Bessent claimed such actions 'have disrupted tens of billions of dollars in revenue' and helped to 'rapidly' depreciate Iranian currency. On Wednesday, the Iranian rial dropped to a new record low against the US dollar, losing about 6% of its value since the war began, trading at about 1.8 million rials per dollar on the black market.
As talks stall, Iranian authorities have stepped up efforts to prosecute protesters and dissidents. UN human rights chief Volker Turk said at least 21 people have been executed and more than 4,000 arrested since the start of the war on Iran, with many allegedly subjected to torture and illegal punishment.
Source: www.aljazeera.com