Trump says Iranians ‘haven’t left the bargaining table’

Thanks Pakistan for hosting talks, announces blockade of Hormuz

IRGC threatens to trap enemies in ‘deadly whirlpools’

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Sunday — the day when talks between Washington and Tehran ended without any agreement — that the Iranians “haven’t left the bargaining table”.

“I predict they [will] come back, and they give us everything we want — and I told my people, I want everything. I don’t want 90 per cent, I don’t want 95pc. I told them, I want everything. They have no cards,” he during a phone interview on the Fox News show ‘Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo’.

In a post on social media platform Truth Social,

Donald Trump also thanked Pakistan for hosting talks between Washington and Tehran in Islamabad, while announcing that the US Navy would begin blockading the Strait of Hormuz after negotiations failed to produce a breakthrough.

President Trump expressed appreciation for Pakistan’s role in facilitating the dialogue, praising Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the country’s military leadership.

“I have been fully debriefed by Vice President JD Vance, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, on the meeting that took place in Islamabad through the kind and very competent leadership of Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of Pakistan,” he said, describing them as “extraordinary men”.

Reflecting on the outcome of the talks, Trump said that while progress had been made on several fronts, the core issue remained unresolved.

“The meeting went well, most points were agreed to, but the only point that really mattered, nuclear, was not,” he said.

Detailing the negotiations, the US president highlighted the duration and intensity of the engagement.

“The meeting with Iran began early in the morning, and lasted throughout the night — close to 20 hours. I could go into great detail, and talk about much that has been gotten but, there is only one thing that matters — Iran is unwilling to give up its nuclear ambitions,” he said.

“In many ways, the points that were agreed to are better than us continuing our military operations to conclusion, but all of those points don’t matter compared to allowing nuclear power to be in the hands of such volatile, difficult, unpredictable people,” he added.

Trump further said that despite cordial interactions between delegations, Iran remained firm on the key issue.

“My three representatives, as all of this time went by, became, not surprisingly, very friendly and respectful of Iran’s representatives, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, Abbas Araghchi, and Ali Bagheri, but that doesn’t matter because they were very unyielding as to the single most important issue and, as I have always said, right from the beginning, and many years ago, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” he stated.

Following the collapse of talks, Trump announced that the US Navy would begin blocking the Strait of Hormuz with immediate effect.

“The US Navy will begin the process of blockading any and all ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” he said, adding that the move would be “effective immediately”.

Meanwhile, – Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Sunday said Iranian security forces had the Strait of Hormuz key shipping bottleneck under full control, warning that enemies would be trapped in its “deadly vortex” in case of any miscalculation.

“All traffic… is under the full control of the armed forces,” the Guards naval command said in a Persian language post on X after Trump ordered a US naval blockade of the Strait.

“The enemy will become trapped in a deadly vortex in the Strait if it makes the wrong move,” it added, posting a video showing vessels in crosshairs. Monitoring Desk