(The Center Square) – With just hours left before the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is set to expire, President Donald Trump still says a deal can be made but is ready to continue striking the Islamic Republic.
Despite conflicting reports that Iran will participate in the next round of negotiations, the president said “representatives” from the U.S. will soon meet with Iranians. However, Iran continues to send mixed messages about whether it will participate in talks Wednesday.
As of Tuesday afternoon, it remains unclear whether Vice President JD Vance will once again lead the American delegation, following reports over the weekend that he would travel to Pakistan.
While Iran continues to give mixed messaging on participating in further talks, Trump appears optimistic a deal will be struck, telling CNBC that he believes “we’re going to end up with a great deal…I think they have no choice.”
“I think we’re in a very strong negotiating position to do what other presidents should have done during a 47-year period,” the president added.
In a lead-up to the talks, Trump accused Iran of violating the ceasefire “numerous times” on Truth Social Tuesday morning.
The president appears to be prepared for further strikes if a deal isn’t struck, acknowledging Iran appearing to use the ceasefire to restock its arsenal.
“They probably have done a little bit of restocking. We caught a ship yesterday that had some things on it, which wasn’t very nice. A gift from China, perhaps, I don’t know. But I was a little surprised, because I have a very good relationship, and I thought I had an understanding with President Xi,” the president said during his phone interview with the network.
The ship named Touska was intercepted Sunday in the Gulf of Oman after the U.S. Navy “gave them fair warning to stop,” according to the president. Trump claims the “nearly 900 feet long” ship attempted to get through the naval blockade put in place over a week ago at the direction of Trump.
A U.S. Navy destroyer intercepted and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship en route to an Iranian port originating from China, raising concerns that China could be resupplying the Islamic Republic with weapons.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Navy intercepted and boarded a “stateless” sanctioned boat in the Indo-Pacific region, according to the Department of War.
“As we have made clear, we will pursue global maritime enforcement efforts to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran,” the DOW wrote in a social media post.
U.S. Central Command has said since the start of the Naval blockade on Iranian ports, the U.S. has intercepted 28 vessels to “turn around or return to port.”
