Trump warns Iran that ‘clock is ticking’ on peace deal

With diplomacy losing momentum and the war now more than two months old, US President Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to Iran, declaring that the “clock is ticking” on efforts to secure an end to the conflict.

Writing on social media, Mr Trump warned Iran’s leadership that failure to move swiftly toward a peace agreement would bring consequences, saying the country would be left with nothing if no deal was reached.

The message followed a conversation between the US President and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu focused on Iran, according to an Israeli official.

Earlier, Iranian state media said Washington had offered no meaningful concessions in its latest reply to Iran’s proposed framework for talks aimed at ending the war.

The developments came as a drone strike sparked a fire at a nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates, officials in Abu Dhabi said, underscoring the dangers of a conflict that appears no closer to resolution and continues to disrupt efforts to restore shipping in the Gulf.

Emirati officials said they were investigating where the strike originated and stressed that the UAE retained the full right to respond to what they described as “terrorist attacks”. A diplomatic adviser to the UAE president called it a dangerous escalation, whether it was carried out by “the principal perpetrator” or by one of its proxies.

The UAE has previously accused Iran of striking its energy infrastructure in what Abu Dhabi has described as a widening regional escalation.

The UAE defence ministry said two other drones had been “successfully” intercepted and added that the drones had been launched from the “western border”. It gave no further details.

Authorities in Abu Dhabi moved quickly after the incident at the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant (File image)

The drone that penetrated defences struck an electrical generator outside the inner perimeter of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said. It added that radiological safety levels were unaffected and that no injuries were reported.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said it was monitoring the situation closely.

Since the war began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on 28 February, Iran has repeatedly targeted the UAE and other Gulf countries hosting US military bases, hitting locations that have included civilian facilities and energy infrastructure.

Iran intensified those attacks on the UAE earlier this month after Mr Trump announced a naval mission designed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a move he suspended after 48 hours.

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More than five weeks after a fragile ceasefire took hold, Washington and Tehran remain deeply divided despite diplomatic pushes to end the war and reopen the strait, the world’s most important route for oil and gas shipments.

The US has demanded that Iran dismantle its nuclear programme and end its control over the strait. Iran, meanwhile, has called for compensation for war damage, the lifting of a US blockade on Iranian ports and a halt to fighting across all fronts, including in Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Mr Trump, who spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week without obtaining any sign that Beijing would help broker a solution, has warned that attacks could resume if Iran refuses to accept a deal.

A senior spokesperson for the Iranian armed ‌forces, Abolfazl Shekarchi, said that if Mr Trump’s threats were carried out, the US would “face new, aggressive, and surprise scenarios, and sink into a self-made quagmire”.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said the US and Israel were attempting to deflect blame for turmoil in energy markets after what he called their “unprovoked military aggression against Iran”.

The disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has triggered the biggest oil supply crisis in history, sending prices higher. The US has also enforced its own blockade on Iranian ports.

Ebrahim Azizi, who heads the Iranian parliament’s national security committee, said yesterday that Tehran had prepared a mechanism to manage passage through the strait along a designated route and that details would be announced soon.

Thousands of Iranians were killed in US and Israeli airstrikes. Thousands more have died in Lebanon during fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah.

Israel and Lebanon agreed on Friday to extend their ceasefire there by 45 days, although the truce has not succeeded in stopping the clashes.