Trump Dismisses Iran's Leverage: 'The Only Reason They Are Alive Today Is to Negotiate'

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - In two terse posts on Truth Social on Friday, US President Donald Trump stripped away any diplomatic veneer and delivered a verdict on Iran's position at the negotiating table: Tehran, he said, holds no cards.

"The Iranians don't seem to realize they have no cards, other than a short-term extortion of the world by using international waterways," Trump wrote. "The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate."

In a separate post, he took a more dismissive tone, writing that the Iranians "are better at handling the Fake News Media, and 'Public Relations,' than they are at fighting."

Trump's posts landed amid growing uncertainty over whether the Iran-US talks in Islamabad would proceed as planned. Observers have noted that Tehran has threatened to withdraw from the negotiations, linking that threat directly to the Lebanon file. Analysts warn that Iran's posture on Lebanon could delay or derail the opening of the talks.

That connection carries added weight given that direct Lebanon-Israel negotiations are now confirmed to begin Tuesday, April 15. The Times of Israel, citing an American official, reported that the first face-to-face session will be held at the US State Department in Washington.

Ahead of Tuesday's meeting, a preparatory phone call took place on Friday among the Lebanese ambassador, the Israeli ambassador, and the US ambassador to Beirut, according to the Times of Israel. The Wall Street Journal also reported that officials from all three countries — the US, Israel, and Lebanon — have been in ongoing contact to work out the framework for direct government-to-government talks.

The twin diplomatic tracks — Islamabad for Iran, Washington for Lebanon-Israel — reflect a US effort to advance parallel negotiations across the region simultaneously, even as Tehran's last-minute conditions and Trump's escalatory rhetoric threaten to complicate both.