Dubai, Apr 29:
Talks between Iran and the United States on ending the war seemed stalled on Wednesday, despite US President Donald Trump earlier claiming Iran had informed his administration that it was in a “State of Collapse”.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump criticised Iran’s handling of nuclear negotiations, saying it has failed to move toward a deal.
“Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Pakistan said its weekly oil import bill has surged by about 167 per cent due to soaring global energy prices. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Wednesday the weekly oil import bill had risen from USD 300 million before the Middle East conflict to USD 800 million.
In a similar message, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the US-Israel war, combined with retaliation from Iran such as choking the Strait of Hormuz, is costing the European Union almost 500 million euros (USD 600 million) a day, raising prices at the pumps and fears of a jet fuel shortage within weeks.
President Trump criticised Iran’s handling of nuclear negotiations, saying it has failed to move toward a deal.
“Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!” he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump’s post featured an AI-generated image of himself holding a weapon amid explosions with the caption “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY.”
Tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program rose before the war broke out, with Trump repeatedly vowing to ensure the country can’t build a nuclear weapon.
Iran long has insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, though it enriched uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels.
The majority of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is likely still at its Isfahan nuclear complex, which was bombarded by airstrikes last year and faced less intense attacks in this year’s US-Israeli war, the head of the UN nuclear agency said
Rafael Grossi said in an interview on Tuesday that the International Atomic Energy Agency has satellite images showing the effects of the latest US-Israeli airstrikes against Iran and that “we continue to get information”.
IAEA inspections ended at Isfahan when Israel last June launched a 12-day war that saw the United States bomb three Iranian nuclear sites.
The UN nuclear watchdog believes a large percentage of Iran’s highly enriched uranium “was stored there in June 2025 when the 12-day war broke out, and it has been there ever since,” Grossi said.