Trump warned Iran of intensified strikes if it rejects a peace deal, even as Tehran reviews a U.S. proposal and talks remain indirect.
WASHINGTON — President Trump threatened Iran with a sharper U.S. military campaign if it does not accept terms for ending the war, while saying Wednesday that it is still too soon for new direct talks with Iranian officials after reporting progress in Pakistan-brokered negotiations.
The warning came as Trump paused Project Freedom, a short-lived U.S. operation to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, to allow more time for diplomacy. The broader U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports and Iranian-linked vessels remains in place, according to U.S. officials.
Trump said on Truth Social that the conflict could end if Iran accepts what he described as terms already under discussion. “If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before,” he wrote.
The moment is a test of a fragile ceasefire that U.S. officials say has not collapsed despite continued attacks in the region. Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Iran has fired at commercial vessels nine times and attacked U.S. forces more than 10 times since the ceasefire began April 7, but described those incidents as below the threshold for restarting major combat operations.
Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that the United States was not seeking a fight but was prepared to respond. Administration officials have not publicly defined what level of Iranian action would be considered a violation of the ceasefire.
Iran’s government is reviewing the latest U.S. peace proposal and will send its position to Pakistani intermediaries after completing that review, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told Iran’s ISNA news agency. In a separate post on X, Baqaei said negotiations require good faith and should not amount to “dictation,” “extortion” or “coercion.”
Details of the proposal have not been made public by Washington, Tehran or Islamabad. Trump has said talks have made “great progress,” but he also described Iran’s agreement as “perhaps” a major assumption.
The Strait of Hormuz remains central to the standoff. Trump announced Project Freedom to help move commercial vessels through the waterway, then paused it after one day. Two U.S.-escorted commercial ships have transited under the effort, while maritime traffic through the strait remained sharply reduced, according to reporting citing U.K. navy data and Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
U.S. Central Command said Wednesday that 52 commercial vessels had been directed to turn around or return to port under the ongoing blockade. CENTCOM also said U.S. forces disabled the Iranian-flagged empty oil tanker M/T Hasna in the Gulf of Oman after repeated warnings, firing from a Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet to disable the ship’s rudder.
Trump also told Sinclair Broadcast Group that Iran is “militarily defeated,” but said that did not mean U.S. combat operations were finished. He said the United States had hit roughly 70% of certain targets it wanted and could still strike others.
For now, the administration is trying to hold two positions at once: keep pressure on Iran through a blockade and the threat of further strikes, while giving indirect negotiations more time. The next clear signal is expected from Tehran’s response to the latest U.S. proposal.
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