Donald Trump has again threatened Iran, saying the US may launch new attacks if Tehran continues to refuse the significant concessions he wants before a deal can be struck to end the Middle East war.<\/p>\n
The US president said he had called off a fresh wave of strikes<\/a>, which would have broken the ceasefire in place since early last month. \u201cI was an hour away from making the decision to go today,\u201d Trump said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n The decision apparently followed a further peace proposal submitted by Tehran via Pakistan<\/a>, which has mediated, and may have been motivated by the reluctance of allies, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, to see hostilities resume.<\/p>\n Trump said Iran\u2019s leaders were \u201cbegging\u201d to make a deal, but a new US attack would deliver \u201ca big hit\u201d in the coming days if one was not reached.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I mean, I\u2019m saying two or three days, maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday, something, maybe early next week, a limited period of time, because we can\u2019t let them have a new nuclear weapon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Trump has made repeated threats in recent weeks but the continuing failure to follow through has increased the sense that the conflict is deadlocked.<\/p>\n Analysts say both sides want to avoid a new round of hostilities but neither are willing to pay the political price of the concessions necessary to secure a peace agreement.<\/p>\n \u201cTrumps\u2019 threats have lost all credibility \u2026 Both sides are too far apart in terms of what they are willing to accept or work on but neither side want to go back to war. So they are just stuck \u2026 and neither side really knows how to get out of this,\u201d said Neil Quilliam of London\u2019s Chatham House<\/a>.<\/p>\n Iran continues to block most shipping in the strait of Hormuz, which carried about a fifth of the world\u2019s supply of oil and liquid gas before the conflict, while the US has imposed its own naval blockade on Iranian ports.<\/p>\n Iranian officials have remained defiant in the face of Trump\u2019s new threats, describing US demands as \u201cexcessive\u201d.<\/p>\n Since the ceasefire began on 8 April, Tehran and Washington have held only a single round of talks: an unsuccessful 21-hour session in Islamabad. Pakistani mediators have sought to bridge the big gaps between the two sides, passing successive proposals from one to the other, but have complained that both are \u201cchanging their goalposts\u201d.<\/p>\n According to Iran\u2019s ISNA news agency, Mohammed Akraminia, a military spokesperson, reiterated on Tuesday that Tehran would continue to manage the strait, adding that the US needed to \u201crespect the Iranian nation and observe the legitimate rights of the Islamic republic\u201d.<\/p>\n