US warns of potential strikes if Pakistan-hosted Iran talks fail

US President Donald Trump said US warships are being reloaded with “the best ammunition” in preparation for potential renewed strikes on Iran if ongoing talks in Pakistan fail to produce an agreement, as Washington and Tehran engage in high-stakes negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme and regional issues.

Trump made the comments in a phone interview with The New York Post on April 10, shortly after Vice President JD Vance departed aboard Air Force Two en route to Islamabad. He is expected to be joined in the talks by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

“We’re going to find out in about 24 hours. We’re going to know soon,” Trump said when asked about the prospects for success. “And if we don’t have a deal, we will be using them, and we will be using them very effectively.”

“We have a reset going. We’re loading up the ships with the best ammunition, the best weapons ever made — even better than what we did previously and we blew them apart,” he said. “But we’re loading up the ships. We’re loading up the ships with the best weapons ever made, even at a higher level than we use to do a complete decimation.

Iran is expected to be represented in the Pakistani capital by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Iranian officials have repeatedly insisted on their country’s “inalienable right” to enrich uranium.

“You’re dealing against people that we don’t know whether or not they tell the truth,” Trump told The Post. “To our face, they’re getting rid of all nuclear weapons, everything’s gone. And then they go out to the press and say, ‘No, we’d like to enrich.’ So we’ll find out.”

The negotiations are expected to centre on US demands that Iran hand over an estimated 1,000 pounds of deeply buried enriched uranium, as well as broader issues including the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping, Iran’s ballistic missile programme, its support for regional proxy groups, and potential sanctions relief.

By Sabina Mammadli