After 13 consecutive nights of fire, the United States and Iran have stopped attacking each other over the past two days, and relatively conciliatory messages have been heard from both sides. But on Sunday evening, U.S. President Donald Trump posted two belligerent AI-generated images on his social media platform — making clear, at the very least, and in his own way, that the military option remains on the table.
Trump on Iran: 'Too early for a deal, but I'm willing to listen'
In the first image, under the headline “Attack on Kharg,” aircraft and vessels can be seen bombing the Iranian oil island. In the second, Trump himself is seen standing with a U.S. flag on an oil tanker flying the Iranian flag, under the headline: “It's our oil tanker now!” He later posted another version of the image, in which U.S. Marines, a warship and people dressed as Houthis jumping off the Iranian vessel can be seen behind him. In another image, Trump called himself “cosmic commander.”
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Sunday evening that “the United States and Iran are exchanging messages” as part of the negotiations between them.
“Our priority is to defend our sovereignty,” Baghaei said. “The recent U.S. military attacks are a continuation of the war that began on February 28. The U.S. violated nearly all clauses of the memorandum of understanding, destroyed the appropriate environment for dialogue and betrayed diplomacy for the third time. At this stage, mediators are actively helping the exchange of messages between the sides, including Pakistan and Qatar.”
CBS reported Sunday afternoon that Trump paused the U.S. bombings Friday — at a time when Israel was awaiting a significant escalation — because Omani officials had flown to Tehran for talks. Two regional officials told CBS that the U.S. bombings were deliberately paused so as not to disrupt the delicate diplomacy taking place face to face. According to them, progress had been made in talks between Oman and Iran on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and on their territorial waterways in the same area.
“Things are moving in a positive direction, but the diplomatic efforts need more time to reach an agreement,” they said.
Earlier, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran would hold its fire as long as the U.S. did the same. At the same time, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz said in an interview with Fox News that Trump is “giving a little space for talks.” However, the Iranian official who spoke with Reuters and referred to the cease-fire qualified his remarks, saying there is “more skepticism than pessimism.”
In any case, Israel’s assessment has not changed: No permanent agreement between the U.S. and Iran is expected.