Trump Says Iran Will ‘Pay the Price’ for Slow-Walking Peace Deal

President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused Iran of dragging out negotiations with Washington and warned that Tehran would “pay the price” for delaying a deal that he said would benefit the country and earlier signaled was nearing a breakthrough.

“Iran’s Military is a complete and total mess,” Trump wrote in a June 10 post on Truth Social, adding that Iran has been “all talk and no action” in terms of peace talks.

“They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price,” Trump added.

Trump’s latest comments mark a sharper tone from remarks he made just one day earlier, when he said the United States and Iran were in the “final throes” of negotiations aimed at preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy shipping route.

Speaking to reporters in New York in the early morning hours of June 9, Trump said his strong preference was for a negotiated resolution of the conflict, rather than more bloodshed.

“If we do the bombing, you know a lot of people are going to be killed. Who wants to do that? I don’t,“ Trump said Tuesday, adding that his expectations were that a deal would be struck within “two or three days.”

”We’ll have a signed document that’s actually stronger than doing the bombing.”

Trump said that the Strait of Hormuz would, under the terms of the potential agreement, be opened “immediately upon signing.”

Yet what ensued was an escalation of tensions in the Gulf, with Iran downing a U.S. Apache attack helicopter on Tuesday, prompting the United States to launch retaliatory strikes. Tehran subsequently launched attacks against Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan on Wednesday, with Iran’s military saying it had targeted 21 sites hosting U.S. air and naval assets.

Following the downing of the Apache—and the successful rescue of its two pilots—Trump said the United States would have to respond.

In turn, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a social media post that Tehran “will leave no attack or threat unanswered” and warned foreign forces to withdraw from the region “if you want to be safe.”

Besides expressing frustration with what he said was Iranian foot-dragging over the negotiations, Trump on Wednesday also touted the effectiveness of a U.S.-led blockade targeting Iran’s economy.

“The Fake News Media refuses to report how effective the U.S. Naval blockade is,” Trump wrote in a separate June 10 post on Truth Social. “Iran is doing zero business, not paying their military, or any of their bills, and quickly becoming a failed nation!”

Blockade Pressure, Iranian Response

Trump has on several occasions credited the blockade, rather than military action, for bringing Iran to the negotiating table.

Speaking to reporters on June 9, he said that economic pressure had proven more effective than a sustained bombing campaign, saying the restrictions were severely straining Iran’s economy and limiting its ability to sustain military operations.

“What has proven to be a very powerful thing is the blockade,” Trump said. “The blockade’s turned out to be much stronger than bombing.”

The United States expanded the scope of its maritime restrictions in April, targeting vessels linked to Iran that were carrying goods deemed supportive of Tehran’s military or war-sustaining economy, including industrial materials, electronics, and other dual-use items.

Trump on Wednesday doubled down on that assessment, stating that the blockade had largely cut Iran off from international commerce.

“Nothing gets through unless we want it to. It is a steel wall!” he wrote on Truth Social, while adding that “lots of oil is getting out.”

Iranian officials have pushed back against Trump’s characterization of both the negotiations and the effectiveness of U.S. pressure.

Speaking at a ceremony in Tehran on Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran’s adversaries had failed to achieve their objectives through military force and were now attempting to weaken the country by fostering internal divisions.

“They could not reach their goals through other means and today they hope to achieve their intentions by creating division and discord inside the country,” Pezeshkian said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

Pezeshkian acknowledged that sanctions and economic restrictions had imposed hardships on the country, but said Iran would not yield to military threats or economic pressure.

“We are under sanctions, our paths have been blocked, and we are facing a difficult test,” he said. “War is not in the interest of the country, but if they want to violate our dignity, land, and territory, we will not submit.”

The latest flare-up in tensions comes against a broader backdrop of ongoing negotiations, with key issues being the fate of Iran’s nuclear program and restoring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has been restricting in retaliation for the joint U.S.–Israeli military campaign.