Iranian Parliament speaker Mohmmad Bagher Ghalibaf blasted US President Donald Trump on Monday night, making clear that the Islamic Republic will not negotiate under threats.
“Trump, by imposing a siege and violating the ceasefire, seeks to turn this negotiating table - in his own imagination - into a table of surrender or to justify renewed warmongering," Ghalibaf, who headed the Iranian delegation in recent talks with the US in Pakistan, wrote in a social media post.
“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats, and in the past two weeks, we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield," he warned.
Ghalibaf’s comments came hours after Trump wrote on Truth Social that the US will not lift its blockade on Iranian ports until a deal has been reached with Tehran.
Trump wrote that the blockade, which began last week, is "absolutely destroying Iran", and added that the US is winning the conflict "by a lot".
In a separate post, Trump said a deal currently being discussed with Iran would be "far better" than the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was signed during the Obama administration.
“The DEAL that we are making with Iran will be FAR BETTER than the JCPOA," Trump wrote, describing the 2015 agreement as “one of the Worst Deals ever made" and asserting that it created “a guaranteed Road to a Nuclear Weapon."
Trump said the deal currently being worked on “will not, and cannot" allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.
The temporary US-Iran ceasefire is set to end on Wednesday, and there is currently no certainty that a second round of peace talks will go ahead in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Al-Arabiya on Monday night quoted a report in Pakistani media saying that Pakistan has approached the United States and Iran with a request to extend the ceasefire by an additional two weeks.
According to the reports, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif may announce the extension of the ceasefire as early as Tuesday.
On Sunday, Iran denied it would participate in new peace talks with the United States, its state news agency reported.
The denial came hours after Trump said Iranian negotiators would head to Pakistan on Monday for a second round of peace talks.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency cited no specific source in its report that Iran had rejected the talks.
“Iran stated that its absence from the second round of talks stems from what it called Washington’s excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach of the ceasefire," IRNA wrote.