US sets Iran deadline

President Donald Trump says Iran has until Wednesday, April 22, to reach a deal or face renewed U.S. strikes. (ideastream.org) Trump said Sunday that U.S. negotiators would head to Pakistan on Monday evening for another round of talks. In the same Truth Social post, he threatened to destroy “every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran” if Tehran does not accept what he called a “fair and reasonable DEAL.” (ideastream.org) The deadline lands as a two-week ceasefire is due to expire on Wednesday. Trump said Friday the U.S. might “have to start dropping bombs again,” even as he also said he still thinks a deal is possible. (aljazeera.com; ideastream.org) At the center of the talks is uranium enrichment, the process that increases the share of the isotope U-235 in uranium fuel. The International Atomic Energy Agency says uranium enriched below 20% is generally used for civilian reactors, while material above 20% is considered highly enriched. (aljazeera.com) Washington is pressing Iran to stop enriching uranium for 20 years in exchange for sanctions relief, while Tehran has resisted anything longer than five years, according to reports on the Islamabad talks. That dispute helped sink the first high-level round in Pakistan on April 11 and 12. (aljazeera.com; aljazeera.com) Trump has also said the U.S. would help remove Iran’s buried enriched uranium after last summer’s joint U.S.-Israeli strikes. On April 8, he said the material had not been touched and would be “dig[ged] up and remove[d],” but Iran had not confirmed that arrangement. (pbs.org) Iran says enrichment is a sovereign right and points to the 2015 nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, under which it accepted inspections, cut 97% of its highly enriched uranium stockpile, and capped enrichment at 3.75% before Trump withdrew the U.S. from the pact in 2018. (english.elpais.com) The military pressure is not limited to nuclear sites. Iran has again closed the Strait of Hormuz, and NPR reported that about 20% of the world’s crude oil and natural gas typically moves through that waterway. (ideastream.org) Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf said on state television that ships cannot pass through Hormuz while Iran remains under U.S. blockade. India and the United Kingdom have both reported recent firing incidents involving merchant shipping in the strait. (ideastream.org) The White House says the broader U.S. campaign, launched on February 28 and described as a 38-day operation, destroyed more than 85% of Iran’s defense industrial base and secured a ceasefire announced on April 8. By Wednesday, the question is whether that ceasefire becomes a longer agreement or a pause before more bombing. (whitehouse.gov; ideastream.org)