Trump Claims 'Deep Negotiations' With Iran as Deadline Looms, Threatens Infrastructure Strikes

President Trump is escalating pressure on Iran with an aggressive ultimatum: reach a deal before Tuesday or face U.S. bombing campaigns targeting critical civilian infrastructure including power plants and bridges. In a Sunday morning interview with Axios, Trump claimed his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are engaged in "deep negotiations" with Iranian leadership and expressed confidence a deal could materialize before his deadline expires. However, mediators paint a more cautious picture, saying while they'll work until the last minute, they're far less optimistic about an imminent breakthrough—though they're attempting to cobble together at least a partial agreement or confidence-building measures that could extend negotiations.

Trump's threat to destroy Iran's power plants and bridges—infrastructure vital to ordinary Iranian civilians—represents an unusually blunt form of coercive diplomacy. The ultimatum centers on Iran opening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping chokepoint. Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf responded sharply on X, accusing Trump of dragging the U.S. into "a living HELL for every single family" and claiming Trump is "following Netanyahu's commands," signaling deep mistrust and the inflammatory rhetoric dominating the exchange.

Behind the scenes, foreign ministers from Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey are attempting to broker confidence-building measures that could at least delay Trump's threatened strikes and move parties toward direct talks. The mediation efforts represent a narrow window for de-escalation, though the gap between Trump's public confidence and mediators' private skepticism suggests the Tuesday deadline may arrive without resolution. The real test: whether partial agreements can forestall military action or whether Trump follows through on his threat.