Trump says Strait of Hormuz will reopen 'one way or other' ahead of talks with Iran in Pakistan

US-Iran Talks in Pakistan: President Donald Trump issues stark warning ahead of Saturday's negotiations, saying Tehran has "no cards" and warships stand ready if peace talks collapse.

US-Iran talks in Pakistan: Donald Trump has made clear he intends to see the Strait of Hormuz reopened regardless of what happens at the negotiating table in Pakistan, declaring the critical global oil route will resume "automatically," with or without Iranian cooperation.

"That will open up automatically," Trump told reporters on Friday, adding that he expected the waterway to be operating again "fairly soon." When pressed further, the President was characteristically blunt: "I think it's going to go pretty quickly. And if it doesn't, we'll be able to finish it off one way or the other."

Iran effectively closed the strait, through which roughly a fifth of global energy supplies pass, during the more than month-long US-Israeli military campaign against Tehran. Its closure has sent shockwaves through international energy markets and added enormous pressure on both sides to reach some form of agreement.

On being asked if he will let Iran toll the Strait of Hormuz, US President Donald Trump said, "No, we are not going to allow that, it's international water. If they are doing that, we are not going to let that happen."

Trump did not limit his remarks to the waterway. In a post on his Truth Social platform, the President stripped Tehran's negotiating position down to almost nothing. "The Iranians don't seem to realise they have no cards, other than a short-term extortion of the world by using international waterways," he wrote. "The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate."

The language was as combative as any Trump has used regarding Iran, and it arrived on the very day both delegations were boarding planes to Islamabad, doing little to ease the already considerable tension surrounding the talks.

In a separate telephone interview with the New York Post, Trump said the outcome of negotiations would become apparent "in about 24 hours," and warned that US warships are being reloaded and stand ready to resume strikes on Iran should the Pakistan talks break down.

Beneath the bluster, Trump outlined what he described as the singular objective driving American policy. "No nuclear weapon. That's 99 per cent of it," he said, framing the prevention of an Iranian nuclear capability as the near-total focus of any deal Washington would consider signing.

The remark offers some clarity amid an otherwise complex set of American demands, which separately include Iran surrendering enriched uranium stockpiles, halting its missile programme, and ending support for regional proxy forces. But Trump's language suggests that, at its core, the White House sees the nuclear question as the one issue it cannot compromise on.

Iran's response on Friday was measured but firm. The country's armed forces announced they remain at "full readiness", the same operational posture maintained throughout what Tehran has described as the 40-day "asymmetric battle" against the United States and Israel. The statement cited "frequent breaches of promises" by both Washington and Tel Aviv as the reason for maintaining that alert status.

It was a pointed signal: Iran may be sending a delegation to Islamabad, but it is not arriving from a position of surrender.

All three parties, the United States, Iran and Israel, have claimed victory in the war that preceded these talks. That alone speaks to how differently each side reads what has happened and what they believe they are owed at the table.

Analysts have been consistent in their assessment: the current ceasefire is fragile, the competing interests are deep-rooted, and the gap between the two negotiating frameworks is wide. Trump's remarks on Friday, threatening military resumption in one breath and predicting a swift resolution in the next, captured precisely the volatile mixture of pressure and possibility that will define whatever unfolds in Islamabad over the coming days.

(With IANS inputs)