Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf publicly ridiculed Donald Trump on Wednesday, as reports circulated that Washington and Tehran may be nearing an agreement to end the ongoing conflict.

“Operation Trust Me Bro failed. Now back to routine with Operation Fauxios,” Ghalibaf wrote in a post on social media.

His comments appeared to take aim at the recently announced Project Freedom mission in the Strait of Hormuz, which Trump halted Tuesday night just two days after launching it, as well as a report from Axios indicating that the United States and Iran are close to finalizing a brief, one-page deal to bring the war to a conclusion.

Earlier that day, Trump issued a sharp warning to Iran in a post on his Truth Social platform, outlining the conditions under which hostilities could come to an end.

“Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption, the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end, and the highly effective Blockade will allow the Hormuz Strait to be OPEN TO ALL, including Iran.”

He followed with a direct threat, writing, “If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before.”

Later, speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said recent negotiations with Iran have been productive, adding that Iranian leadership is eager to reach an agreement and has indicated a willingness to abandon nuclear weapons.

“They want to make a deal badly. And we’ll see if we get there. If we get there, they can’t have nuclear weapons. It’s very simple,” Trump stated.

Trump also described what he characterized as a near-total dismantling of Iran’s military capabilities, pointing to losses across its navy, air force, and missile systems.

“They had a Navy with 159 ships, and now every ship is blown to pieces and lying at the bottom of the water. They had an Air Force, lots of planes, and they don’t have any planes. They don’t have any anti-aircraft. They don’t have any radar left. Their missiles are mostly decimated. They have some. They have probably 18, 19 percent, but not a lot by comparison to what they had. And their leaders are all dead. So I think we won.”

He added that while the administration is pursuing a negotiated resolution, further escalation remains an option if talks do not succeed.

“Now we have to get what we have to get. If we don’t do that, we’ll have to go a big step further. But with that being said, they want to make a deal. We’ve had very good talks over the last 44 hours, and it’s very possible that we’ll make a deal,” said Trump.

Trump reiterated his central position, emphasizing once again that “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. And they won’t. And they’ve agreed to that, among other things.”

{Matzav.com}