Trump says Iran ‘afraid’ to admit it wants a deal

President Donald Trump asserted that Iran is quietly engaged in negotiations and suggested Tehran’s public denials stem from fears that negotiators could be killed by hardliners — or targeted by the United States.

“They are negotiating, by the way, and they want to make a deal so badly. But they’re afraid to say it, because they figure they’ll be killed by their own people,” Mr Trump told a dinner for Republican members of Congress.

“They’re also afraid they’ll be killed by us.”

His remarks came after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi publicly stated that “we do not intend to negotiate”.

Turning his fire inward, Mr Trump accused Democrats of attempting to “deflect from all of the tremendous success that we’re having in this military operation”.

Watch: Donald Trump claims Iran is ‘afraid’ to make a deal

Mocking calls for congressional sign-off, Mr Trump said he was avoiding the word “war” — “They don’t like the word ‘war,’ because you’re supposed to get approval, so I’ll use the word military operation.”

The White House earlier warned Mr Trump stood ready to “unleash hell” should Iran refuse to acknowledge defeat, while also maintaining that Tehran remained involved in talks.

Iranian state media, meanwhile, quoted an unnamed official saying the Islamic Republic had given a “negative” response to a reported 15-point plan put forward by Washington.

Abbas Araghchi said Iran is committed to continue resistance against the US and Israel

‘Talks continue’

“If Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment, if they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily and will continue to be, President Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

“President Trump does not bluff and he is prepared to unleash hell. Iran should not miscalculate again.”

Asked whether negotiations had stalled, Ms Leavitt replied: “Talks continue. They are productive.”

She declined to identify who in Tehran the US was dealing with following the assassination of supreme leader Ali Khamenei, whose son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared in public.

Some reports have pointed to Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s speaker of parliament and a leading non-clerical figure, as the US interlocutor.

A woman holds a portrait of Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei as people march in central Tehran

Ms Leavitt also would not confirm media reports that senior US officials, including Vice President JD Vance, were planning talks with Iranian representatives in Pakistan, which has positioned itself as a key mediator.

Mr Trump is moving thousands of airborne troops and additional Marines to the Gulf amid speculation he may order a ground invasion to seize Iranian oil assets in the Gulf or secure the Strait of Hormuz.

The White House, however, appeared to stick to its earlier estimate that the military operation would last four to six weeks.

Mr Trump announced yesterday that a trip to China to meet Xi Jinping was rescheduled for mid‑May after being pushed back six weeks to deal with the conflict.

“We’ve always estimated approximately four to six weeks (for the length of military operations against Iran), so you could do the math on that,” Ms Leavitt added.

Impacts of conflict spread far and wide

The fallout from the fighting — which has produced the worst energy shock in history — has rippled well beyond the battlefield.

With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed, cutting off a conduit for around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, fuel shortages have emerged globally.

Governments are weighing emergency support measures last used during the Covid pandemic.

Farmers face diesel shortages for tractors, and the World Food Programme warns that tens of millions more people could face acute hunger if the war continues into June.

According to three Israeli cabinet sources familiar with the plan, the 15‑point US proposal delivered to Iran via Pakistan calls for removing Iran’s stocks of highly enriched uranium, halting enrichment, curbing its ballistic missile programme and cutting off funding for regional allies.

The White House declined to provide details of the proposal and threatened to intensify strikes.

“If they fail to ⁠understand that they have been defeated militarily, and will continue to be, President Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before,” Ms Leavitt told reporters.

Meanwhile, missiles and drones continued striking targets across the Gulf.

The Israeli military said it had carried out a broad wave of strikes on infrastructure in multiple areas inside Iran following yet another round of attacks.

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Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command operations in the Middle East, said the US had struck more than 10,000 targets inside Iran and was working to limit Tehran’s capacity to project power beyond its borders.

In a video briefing he said 92% of Iran’s largest naval vessels had been destroyed and that the country’s drone and missile launch rates were down by more than 90%.

Admiral Cooper added the US and Israel have damaged or destroyed about two‑thirds of Iran’s missile, drone and naval production facilities and shipyards.

The Pentagon is planning to dispatch thousands of airborne troops to the Gulf to give Mr Trump greater options for a ground assault, sources told journalists, supplementing two Marine contingents already en route.

The first Marine unit, aboard a large amphibious assault ship, could arrive around the end of the month. UN Secretary‑General Antonio Guterres warned the “world is staring down the barrel of ‌a wider war” in the region.

“It is time to stop climbing the escalation ladder – and start climbing the diplomatic ladder,” he said at UN headquarters in New York.