US to hit Iran 'very hard tonight'. Trump's threat at a critical moment in the war. What's next
Washington and Tehran exchanged airstrikes for a second day in a row on Thursday, as Reuters reported that the two sides also stepped up negotiations for a temporary peace deal.
The United States will hit Iran “very hard tonight” and will soon take control of the country's infrastructure and oil and gas markets, US President Donald Trump warned on Thursday.
“At some point in the not-too-distant future, we will seize Kharg Island and other strategic points of oil infrastructure and take total control of their oil and gas markets, just as we did with Venezuela,” Trump said on Truth Social.
The warning came at a time when the US and Iran resumed, at a reduced level, military confrontations.
The two sides exchanged airstrikes for a second straight day on Thursday, with Trump threatening more strikes if Tehran does not immediately accept a peace deal.
“Militarily, this war is a dead end”
But an Iranian source quoted by Reuters said that the military action between the two sides has reached a stalemate, with neither side being able to get out of this situation.
“Militarily, this war is a dead end. The Americans could not achieve their goals by attacking Iran. There has been progress in the negotiations,” he said.
“The recent military clashes could be preparations for the announcement of a deal. Of course, anything is possible, even a return to full-scale war,” this source said.
Reuters wrote that despite the exchange of fire, efforts to reach a provisional agreement to end hostilities intensified.
The sources cited by the news agency said that Iran and the US continue to exchange messages on the details of a memorandum of understanding, amid the current confrontation between Tehran and Washington.
The main problem at the moment of the negotiations
Three Iranian sources said a political deal had been reached, but that some aspects remained to be discussed in detail, including a mechanism for unlocking tens of billions of dollars worth of Iranian oil revenues frozen in foreign banks.
“Iran wants between $6 billion and $12 billion of its frozen funds to be released to Tehran, while Washington wants to release the funds in stages for humanitarian goods and categorically rejects the return of the funds to Iran,” said one of the Iranian sources.
Another Iranian official said talks continued on the amount of frozen assets to be released immediately and a guaranteed timetable for paying the remaining $12 billion in Iran's funds within 60 days.
A US source familiar with the matter also confirmed that the exchange of messages was continuing and that a political agreement had been reached, but that the mechanism regarding the frozen funds was still being finalised.
The framework of a tentative agreement would focus on a temporary relaxation of Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz and phased access through the waterway, while also ending the US blockade of Iranian ports.
Unresolved issues regarding Tehran's nuclear enrichment capacity and its stockpile of highly enriched uranium would be left for future discussions.
Trump wants a better deal than Obama got
Trump has repeatedly said a deal is on the way, while threatening to step up the bombing.
Analysts said he was concerned about how any deal with Iran would compare to the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers under President Barack Obama.
Trump criticized that deal, including the financial terms offered to Iran. He withdrew the US from the agreement in 2018.
Trump posted on his Truth Social account on May 24 that any deal he makes with Iran “will be a good and fair deal, not like the one Obama made, which gave Iran huge amounts of money and a clear and open path to a nuclear weapon.”
