Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has said Tehran is “prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield” after US President Donald Trump threatened Iran with “problems like they’ve never seen before” if the two-week ceasefire expires on Wednesday without a deal.
“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats, and in the past two weeks, we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield,” Ghalibaf said in an overnight post on X.
The escalating rhetoric comes as the second round of US-Iran peace talks scheduled for Islamabad this week remains in limbo. Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said there was “no official confirmation on whether Iran is going to take part in talks in Islamabad,” though he added that Tehran had “tried to keep the door ajar to diplomacy.”
The war of words has intensified since the US Navy boarded the Iranian-flagged tanker M/T Tifani near Sri Lanka over the weekend — an action Iranian authorities condemned as piracy and which pushed global oil prices higher.
Trump has insisted Iran will come to the table, warning Tehran it would otherwise “see problems.” His administration has maintained that Washington will not lift its blockade on Iranian ports until a deal is struck, decoupling the Hormuz standoff from the ceasefire timeline.
Iran’s messaging has been described as “mixed” — signalling readiness for negotiations but rejecting any dialogue conducted under US-imposed terms. With less than 48 hours until the ceasefire lapses, neither side has publicly confirmed the composition or arrival of its Islamabad delegation.
The standoff keeps Brent crude elevated above $96 per barrel and maintains pressure on Sri Lanka’s fuel import bill, with CPC shipments continuing to carry war-risk premiums.
