By Tom Gantert

President Donald Trump said on Sunday that U.S. representatives will arrive in Pakistan on Monday evening in preparation for negotiations with Iran.

Trump made the announcement on Truth Social and said that Iran had violated a ceasefire agreement by firing shots Saturday aimed at a French ship and freighter from the United Kingdom in the Strait of Hormuz.

“Iran recently announced that they were closing the Strait, which is strange, because our blockade has already closed it. They’re helping us without knowing, and they are the ones that lose with the closed passage, $500 Million Dollars a day!” Trump posted Sunday.

Trump warned that if Iran does not agree to a deal, the United States could target key infrastructure.

“The United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” he wrote on Truth Social.

“If they don’t take the deal, it will be my Honor to do what has to be done.”

The Epoch Times reached out to the White House on Sunday for more information on who will join the U.S. delegation to Pakistan.

The Strait of Hormuz is a critical global shipping route. An average of 20 million barrels per day of crude oil and oil products were shipped through the Strait of Hormuz in 2025, or about 25 percent of the world’s seaborne oil trade, according to the International Energy Agency.

Average gas prices in the United States have increased from $3.15 per gallon on April 19, 2025, to $4.05 per gallon for regular gas a year later, according to AAA.

The United States and Iran have had strained relations for decades, dating back to the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which led to the severing of diplomatic ties.

Major attacks by the United States and Israel were launched on Iran on Feb. 28 after U.S.–Iran nuclear talks ended without a breakthrough. Trump signaled that the U.S.–Israeli military assault on Iranian targets could continue for weeks.

Trump said the operation’s goal is to eliminate threats from Iran and ensure the regime can never have a nuclear weapon.

Iran said on Saturday it was not prepared to resume peace talks with the United States unless Trump eases what officials describe as a “maximalist” position on the country’s nuclear program, according to Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh.

Khatibzadeh said negotiations would require a “framework of understanding” before moving forward. The countries have been under a two-week ceasefire that began April 7.

Previous diplomatic efforts have yet to produce an agreement. Vice President JD Vance led a 21-hour round of talks with Iranian representatives on April 11. No deal was made.

Vance said at the time Iran’s refusal to explicitly renounce the pursuit of nuclear weapons was a sticking point.

Iran has said it is not pursuing nuclear weapons. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran has about 970 pounds of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity—a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90 percent.

Iran’s military said April 18 that it had reinstated “strict military oversight” over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said it was due to Washington’s ongoing naval blockade of Iranian shipping.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre reported an incident on April 18, in which Iranian gunboats fired upon a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, with no casualties reported.

Ryan Morgan and Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.