TOI correspondent from Washington: A high-level US team is heading back to Pakistan on Monday for a second round of talks with Iran amid US President Donald Trump’s fresh threat to destroy every bridge and every power plant if Tehran does not reach a deal with Washington.Iran has not confirmed whether its team will return to Pakistan for talks, suggesting it will not do so until the US Navy lifts the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and agrees to negotiate on other Iranian demands such as lifting sanctions, freeing its frozen assets and a permanent end to the war. Even as Trump announced the US visit despite making serious threats, Iran is still finding out from Pakistan, whose military ruler Asim Munir made an apparently pointless three-day visit to Tehran last week, whether its red lines will be respected.In that case, there was confusion even in Washington over the composition of the US team and its brief for the talks. Trump initially said Vice President J.D. Vance would not lead the team of his special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, apparently due to security concerns on the part of the Secret Service arising from the short-notice visit, but the White House later said Vance would be going, even though Iran has not confirmed his presence. Earlier, the US President took an aggressive stance by delivering another tough message to Iran on social media ahead of the talks and reprimanding it for firing on merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz in violation of the ceasefire agreement, as he once again lashed out at Tehran. “We are offering a very fair and reasonable deal, and I hope they will accept it, because if they don’t, the United States will shut down every single power plant and every single bridge in Iran. Not anymore sir. Good boy!” Trump warned in a post that was a watered-down version of his threat two weeks ago to destroy Iranian civilization, but many analysts still see it as a potential war crime.“They will come down fast, they will come down easily and, if they don’t compromise, it would be my honor to do what should have been done with Iran by other presidents for the last 47 years. Now is the time to end Iran’s killing machine!” Trump added. Meanwhile, Iranian President Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian said that it is America which announces who they will kill next and then calls Iranians terrorists. “Human rights are silent. The United Nations is sleeping. And the international laws they like to cite exist for everyone except the people being bombed,” he said in an interview.Trump is also facing criticism domestically for his lax approach to talks without adequate preparation, even as US analysts say his efforts to coerce Iran through mere threats and abuses are not working.But according to an article in the Wall Street Journal citing senior administration officials, Trump has told aides he wants to appear as unflappable and defiant as possible, believing this could bring the Iranians to the table.“It was a language the Iranians could understand. But they were also worried about the consequences. ‘How is it going?’ he asked advisers,” the report quoted one official as saying, referring to Trump’s posts over Easter in which he called Iranian leaders “crazy bastards”, told them to “open the f–king strait” and threatened to wipe out their civilization, a stance seen by commentators around the world as “unconscionable.”The report also said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio – the country’s leading diplomat, who has been sidelined in talks with Iran – privately told others that this is the language that could actually bring the Iranians to talks. But rather than be alarmed, Tehran has put the US at risk of becoming somewhat more vulnerable, while Trump has repeatedly suggested that the Iranian leadership is divided and that his team is negotiating with a more moderate faction that is more willing to strike a deal with Washington. At home, however, Trump faces growing criticism for leading America into yet another distant quagmire where, by his own admission, Washington has little stake.“They are helping us without knowing, and they are the ones who lose $500 million a day from the closed route! The United States loses nothing. In fact, many ships are headed to the US right now, to Texas, Louisiana and Alaska, to applaud the IRGC, always wanting to be the “tough guy!” Trump said in his Truth Social post on Sunday, undermining his own campaign against Iran, which apparently focused on ensuring The focus is on ensuring that the country never comes close to nuclear weapons.There is also a backlash in MAGA circles at home over rising gas prices, an issue that Trump has tried to ignore even while boasting about American energy self-sufficiency.Supporters of Vice President J.D. Vance are also unhappy that he is being forced to negotiate to stop a war he was against from the beginning. Some commentators are surprised that Trump has given the Vice President detailed briefings for negotiations around the world while suffocating him with threats against Iran, reducing the chances of success, especially after failing in the first round. “Sending Vance back to Pakistan after 21 hours of failed negotiations is like restarting a microwave that’s already on fire,” one observer commented sharply.
