Trump says he opposes extending Iran ceasefire amid talks uncertainty

United States President Donald Trump says he opposes extending a ceasefire with Iran that will expire by the end of Wednesday to allow more time for negotiations.

Trump’s comment on Tuesday during an interview with CNBC raised the stakes for the round of talks set to take place this week in Pakistan, suggesting that the war could reignite if the parties fail to reach a deal.

Iran has not publicly committed to attending the negotiations as tensions over Tehran’s closure of the Hormuz Strait and the US blockade on Iranian ports intensify.

Asked by CNBC whether he would back prolonging the truce to buy more time for the talks to take place, Trump said, “Well, I don’t want to do that.”

The president said Iranian representatives will attend the talks, emphasising that the negotiators don’t have much time to reach an agreement.

“Iran can get themselves on a very good footing if they make a deal. They can make themselves into a strong nation again,” Trump said.

Despite the uncertainty over the talks, Trump predicted that Washington and Tehran would reach a “great deal”.

“I think they have no choice,” he said of the Iranians. “We’ve taken out their navy. We’ve taken out their air force. We’ve taken out their leaders.”

Trump, who has threatened to bomb Iran’s bridges and power and water stations, said the US military is “totally loaded up” to resume the war.

“It’s not my choice, but it would also hurt them. It would hurt them militarily,” he said of his threat to target civilian infrastructure in Iran. “They use the bridges for their weapons, for their missile movements.”

Iran has continued to voice defiance against Trump’s rhetoric, saying it will not negotiate under threat.

While the two-week ceasefire has succeeded in halting the fighting, it has been rocked by Israel’s assault on Lebanon and disagreements over the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has insisted that Lebanon was part of the truce and kept the strait closed to pressure an end to the Israeli bombardment of the country.

Trump, in turn, ordered his own blockade of the waterway with the US military laying a naval siege on ships linked to Iran.

When a ceasefire was announced in Lebanon, Iran announced a reopening of the strait, but Trump said the US blockade would persist. So less than 24 hours later, Tehran said it was closing the strait again.

US forces have seized at least one Iranian-flagged vessel as part of the blockade in what Tehran decried as an act of piracy.

“The United States will bear full responsibility for the consequences of the dangerous escalation, and Iran will use all available means to defend its sovereignty and protect the rights of its citizens,” Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent oil prices around the world soaring. The cost of petrol for US consumers has risen by more than 25 percent since the start of the war.

Trump stressed in his interview with CNBC that the US is “totally” in control of the strategic waterway.