The China Mail - Trump says Iran has 'no cards' beyond Hormuz control

"The Iranians don't seem to realize they have no cards, other than a short term extortion of the World by using International Waterways," Trump said on his Truth Social network.

"The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!"

In a separate social media message, the 79-year-old US leader added: "The Iranians are better at handling the Fake News Media, and 'Public Relations,' than they are at fighting!"

Control of the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world's crude oil passes, will be at the heart of peace talks between the United States and Iran in Pakistan on Saturday.

Iran and the United States said the crucial channel would reopen after a two-week truce was announced on Tuesday, but Tehran's threats mean very few ships are passing through.

Trump said on Thursday that Iran was doing a "very poor job" of allowing oil through the waterway, adding: "That is not the agreement we have!"

His "no cards" comments about Iran echoed his notorious broadside at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office in February when he raged that "you don't have the cards" against Russia.

Separately on Friday, Trump told the New York Post that US warships are being reloaded with weaponry to strike Iran if the talks fail to produce a deal.

"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," the Post quoted Trump as saying by telephone.

"And if we don’t have a deal, we will be using them, and we will be using them very effectively."

In a brief and cryptic social media message earlier, Trump had spoken of the "WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL RESET!!!"

Vice President JD Vance headed to Islamabad on Friday to lead the US delegation in this weekend's talks with Iran, warning Tehran not to "play" Washington.

"We're going to try to have a positive negotiation," Vance told reporters before take-off from Joint Base Andrews outside Washington.

"If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we're certainly willing to extend the open hand. If they're going to try to play us, then they're going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive."

In addition to the Strait of Hormuz, other sticking points include US demands that Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, and Iran's aim to prevent further US and Israeli attacks.

J.Thompson--ThChM