Trump warns of return to ‘strong military action’ if Iran diplomacy fails

Vessels in the strait of Hormuz near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran. Photograph: Razieh Poudat/ISNA/Reuters View image in fullscreen Vessels in the strait of Hormuz near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran. Photograph: Razieh Poudat/ISNA/Reuters Trump warns of return to ‘strong military action’ if Iran diplomacy fails Washington and Tehran issue conflicting messages over the status of talks to end Middle East crisis Donald Trump has once again warned that the US will return to “strong military action” against Iran if diplomatic efforts do not bring a rapid resolution to the crisis in the Middle East. “We are in very deep talks with Iran. If they don’t work out, we will go back to very strong military action,” the US president told Axios on Monday. Asked for how long he would allow the talks to proceed, he answered: “Not much time. Either it goes fast or not at all.” He reiterated the line to reporters later the same day on Air Force One. “They want to meet, and we’re meeting. Without what we did, they wouldn’t even be talking to us … They would not have requested the meeting if we were doing poorly. The only reason they want to meet is because we’ve been hitting them very hard.” He doubled down at a rally in Michigan soon after. “You ⁠can’t bribe them. ​You’ve ‌got ‌to beat them, ‌and we’ll beat the hell out of them. But we’ll ‌see how it turns out,” ​he said . “Right now, ⁠there are very ​friendly negotiations going ​on.” Earlier, Tehran said there were no direct talks with the US to end the conflict, which began in late February with a wave of US-Israeli strikes and has rocked the region and the global economy. “Mediators may convey messages from the American side to us regarding current developments in the region. But at present we are not engaged in any negotiations with the United States,” said the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei. View image in fullscreen President Donald Trump said diplomatic efforts did not have much time to succeed. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP The diplomatic back and forth came as Oman and Iran drew closer to an agreement in principle on the future management of the strait of Hormuz, but remained unable to resolve Tehran’s demand that all ships passing through the strategic waterway must pay some type of transit fee or toll to a consortium led by the two countries. Oman and Iran met for technical talks in Tehran on Friday and Saturday that may hold the key to preventing a further round of fighting. US pauses Iran attacks after Trump advised to halt bombing Read more Perceived progress in the talks – backed by China, Qatar and Pakistan – was understood to have fed into the US decision to pause its attacks on Iran after nearly two weeks. Senior US officials are also reported to have warned Trump over dwindling US munitions stockpiles and the impact of Iranian reprisals on US bases in the region, including Kuwait and Jordan. The top US military commander in the Middle East, Adm Brad Cooper, reportedly recom