President Donald Trump on Monday again threatened Iran with overwhelming military force, saying "lots of bombs [will] start going off" if no deal is reached before a shaky ceasefire with Tehran expires Tuesday evening.
The latest threat, made in a phone call with a PBS News reporter, came as the status of additional U.S.-Iran peace talks, and other key details on the current relationship between the warring powers, have grown increasingly opaque.
At the same time, Trump has resumed his saber-rattling rhetoric, which had escalated two weeks ago before the expiring fragile ceasefire was reached. Trump, in phone calls with reporters over the past two days, has vacillated between warmongering and offering unclear details about further negotiations.
Specifics about a potential deal also remain fuzzy. The Trump administration has stated repeatedly that Iran must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon, and the president said Friday that the U.S. would also get what he has referred to as the "Dust" left after last year's bombing of Iranian nuclear sites.
He has also demanded that Iran fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz to ship traffic, which has slowed to a trickle since the war began on Feb. 28. The de facto closure of the key shipping route has sent global oil prices spiraling, giving Iran a major source of leverage and spurring the U.S. to impose a retaliatory naval blockade of Iran's ports in the middle of the ceasefire.
Trump in a Truth Social post Monday afternoon boasted that the blockade is "absolutely destroying Iran" and declared that it will not be lifted until a deal is struck.
In another post, the president insisted that the deal being made with Iran "will be FAR BETTER" than the Obama-era agreement known as the Iran nuclear deal, which Trump scrapped during his first term in office.
Trump, while lashing out at his perceived critics, also stated he does not feel obligated to cut a deal within six weeks, his initial prediction for the length of the war. "I'm not going to let them rush the United States into making a Deal that is not as good as it could have been," Trump wrote.
Monday's threat of more bombing followed a Sunday morning declaration to a Fox News reporter that "the whole country is going to get blown up" and that if Tehran doesn't sign a deal, Iran's bridges and power plants will be targeted in those attacks.
The threats escalate tensions with Iran even as a U.S. delegation gears up to travel back to Pakistan for a potential second round of peace talks.
The delegation "plans to travel to Islamabad soon," a source familiar with the matter told CNBC on Monday morning on condition of anonymity to discuss the trip.
The information, which implies the delegation has yet to depart, came after Trump told a New York Post reporter Monday morning that U.S. officials are "heading over now."
A first round of talks in Islamabad earlier this month, led by Vice President JD Vance and U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, ended with no deal after a 21-hour negotiating session.
Trump confirmed to the New York Post that the same three officials are part of the round two delegation.
It was not immediately clear if Iran has agreed to participate in further peace talks.
A spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry said at a news conference Monday that there are no plans to attend negotiations with the U.S., multiple outlets reported.
But The New York Times, citing two senior Iranian officials, reported later Monday morning that a delegation from Tehran is making plans to head to Islamabad on Tuesday for talks with the U.S.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in a statement Monday morning illustrated how long-standing hostility between the two sides will inevitably carry into any additional negotiations.
"Deep historical mistrust in Iran toward U.S. gov conduct remains," Pezeshkian wrote in an X post, "while unconstructive & contradictory signals from American officials carry a bitter message; they seek Iran's surrender. Iranians do not submit to force."
The U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on the evening of April 7, shortly before the deadline when Trump warned that "a whole civilization will die" if no deal is struck.
The temporary truce has come under mounting strain throughout its short duration, as each side accused the other of violating its terms.
On Sunday, Trump said that the U.S. Navy, which is blocking Iranian ports near the Strait of Hormuz, fired on and seized an Iran-flagged cargo ship that had tried to bypass the blockade.
The escalation came as Trump has complained that Iran has failed to reopen the strait, which in normal times is the throughway for 20% of the world's oil transit.
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.