Trump to Iran: Negotiate or Face Consequences as Ceasefire Nears End

With only a few hours remaining before the ceasefire between the United States and the Islamic Republic expires, and with Iranian officials insisting they will not participate in a second round of negotiations, the U.S. president has stated his belief that Iranian officials "will negotiate."

On the evening of April 20, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of Parliament and head of the Iranian negotiating team, wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "We will not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats."

Following these remarks, U.S. President Donald Trump spoke about Iran on the John Fredericks Radio Show on Monday evening, Washington time. When the host asked, "What is your final message to Iran today? They say they might not negotiate, they might not go to Pakistan, and they even shot at a ship. What is your message to the Iranian regime?" Trump replied, "Well, they will negotiate."

Donald Trump stated that if Iranian officials refuse to negotiate, "they will be facing problems like they’ve never seen before. They will negotiate, and I hope they make a fair deal and rebuild their country... But they will not have a nuclear weapon, in any event."

He emphasized, "They will have no access and no way of getting a nuclear weapon."

The U.S. president has threatened that if no agreement is reached with Iran, he will initiate a new round of airstrikes against Iranian infrastructure, including all bridges and power plants.

While the two-week ceasefire deadline officially ends on Tuesday, Donald Trump announced on Monday that the final deadline had been extended to Wednesday evening, Washington time.