{"id":13040,"date":"2026-05-21T20:14:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T20:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/05\/21\/trump-shifts-between-diplomacy-and-threats-in-iran-standoff-al-jazeera\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T20:14:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T20:14:56","slug":"trump-shifts-between-diplomacy-and-threats-in-iran-standoff-al-jazeera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/05\/21\/trump-shifts-between-diplomacy-and-threats-in-iran-standoff-al-jazeera\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump shifts between diplomacy and threats in Iran standoff &#8211; Al Jazeera"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>In a week that began with Donald Trump revealing he was just an hour away from \u201cmaking the decision\u201d to resume attacks on Iran, the United States president has oscillated between expressing hope for a lasting ceasefire and threatening military escalation.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s mixed messaging has also coincided with a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/21\/us-iran-diplomacy-picks-up-whats-the-latest\">renewed flurry<\/a> of diplomacy, with Iran as of Thursday saying it had received and was reviewing Washington\u2019s response to Tehran\u2019s latest ceasefire proposal.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/20\/iran-says-it-coordinated-crossing-of-26-vessels-out-of-strait-of-hormuz\">Iran claims it coordinated passage of 26 vessels out of Hormuz in 24 hours<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/economy\/2026\/5\/20\/controlled-reopening-ends-irans-lengthy-stock-market-shutdown\">Controlled reopening ends Iran\u2019s lengthy stock market shutdown<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/21\/iran-war-day-83-tehran-reviewing-latest-us-response-to-end-conflict\">Iran war day 83: Pakistan steps up diplomatic efforts to end conflict<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Trump, meanwhile, appeared to indicate an appetite for a third option: a prolonged, grinding conflict.<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, he reposted a New York Post op-ed by Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/6\/what-is-the-fdd-the-pro-israel-think-tank-shaping-trumps-iran-policy\">pro-Israel think tank<\/a> that has long supported military action against Tehran.<\/p>\n<p>The article titled \u201cHere\u2019s how to crush Tehran in three moves,\u201d called on the US to \u201csustain blockade and accompanying economic warfare\u201d, \u201cremake the world in America\u2019s energy dominance image\u201d, and \u201corder the US military to forge a path through <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/05\/01\/us-news\/iran-eyeing-mine-carrying-dolphins-to-attack-us-warships-in-strait-of-hormuz\/\">the Strait of Hormuz<\/a> to restore freedom of navigation on our terms, not Tehran\u2019s\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The post came after US media widely reported that Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were at loggerheads during a phone call on Tuesday about the future of the Iran war.<\/p>\n<p>Netanyahu <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/21\/israel-pushes-for-war-amid-us-ceasefire-but-its-options-may-be-limited\">reportedly<\/a> pushed the US to resume attacks, while Trump resisted new strikes in hopes of reaching a deal.<\/p>\n<p>Trump did not confirm the report, but when asked on Wednesday, he said of Netanyahu: \u201cHe\u2019s a very good man, he\u2019ll do whatever I want him to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-has-trump-said-this-week\">What has Trump said this week?<\/h2>\n<p>The Trump administration has continually sent broad and at times contradictory messages on Iran, even preceding the war.<\/p>\n<p>The US and Israel began their attacks on February 28 amid ongoing US-Iran negotiations on Tehran\u2019s nuclear programme. An agreement for the current pause in fighting, which began on April 8, came after Trump released some of his most <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/4\/7\/trump-on-iran-a-whole-civilisation-will-die-tonight\">bellicose threats<\/a> of the conflict, saying a \u201cwhole civilisation will die\u201d if a deal was not reached.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019re sitting in Tehran, you\u2019re not sure if the president is actually serious about getting a deal, because every day, every few hours, the president changes his position, threatens Iranians with a strike,\u201d Sina Azodi, an assistant professor of Middle East politics at The George Washington University, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey can\u2019t really decide whether the US actually wants to deal or it wants war,\u201d he said, adding that Trump\u2019s continued preference for \u201cnegotiation on air\u201d makes it harder for Tehran to agree to concessions in private.<\/p>\n<p>The unpredictability has continued this week.<\/p>\n<p>Trump on Sunday threatened that the \u201cclock is ticking\u201d for Iran, the latest instance of the US signalling an end to the current halt to fighting, which has run parallel to an ongoing naval blockade of Iran\u2019s ports.<\/p>\n<p>But on Monday, Trump said any renewed attacks had been put \u201con hold\u201d pending a request from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Trump said \u201cserious negotiations\u201d were taking place.<\/p>\n<p>The statement came as Iran\u2019s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported on Monday that Iran has submitted a revised 14-point peace plan to end the war.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, Trump told reporters he had been \u201can hour away from making the decision\u201d to resume attacks, but instead agreed to give Iran a few \u201cdays\u201d to return to negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday \u2013 something \u2013 maybe early next week; a limited period of time,\u201d he said at the time. \u201cWe may have to give them another big hit. I\u2019m not sure yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, Trump continued to signal the US could go either way.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re in the final stages of Iran. We\u2019ll see what happens. Either have a deal, or we\u2019re going to do some things that are a little bit nasty, but hopefully, that won\u2019t happen,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n<p>He added, \u201cIf we don\u2019t get the right answers, it goes very quickly. We\u2019re all ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"strategic-dilemma\">Strategic dilemma?<\/h2>\n<p>While Trump\u2019s supporters have <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/1\/30\/can-trumps-madman-theory-reshape-iran-and-the-middle-east\">characterised<\/a> his everything-on-the-table approach as part of a wider \u201cmad man\u201d foreign policy approach, others have said it reflects the president\u2019s entrenched dilemma as he tries to claim a convincing victory in the conflict.<\/p>\n<p>Maintaining the current situation \u2013 or escalating into new attacks \u2013 risks continued knock-on effects to the US economy, driving tanking approval on how Trump has handled the war.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the administration is likely aware that any deal reached with Iran on its nuclear programme must be seen as going beyond the former President Barack Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), from which Trump withdrew in 2018, according to Omar Rahman, a fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs.<\/p>\n<p>That comes as Tehran has found a \u201ccoercive instrument of extraordinary power\u201d in its ability to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz, Rahman wrote in a <a href=\"https:\/\/mecouncil.org\/blog_posts\/can-trump-escape-from-a-negotiation-trap-of-his-own-making\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">post<\/a> on Thursday, boosting their leverage in any talks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmid this stalemate, the escalation trap beckons,\u201d Rahman wrote, \u201coffering the slim promise that applying more force can alter the equation in Trump\u2019s favor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, the impasse appeared to continue, with Trump promising to take possession of Iran\u2019s stockpile \u2060of highly enriched uranium, a prospect Tehran has repeatedly said is a non-starter.<\/p>\n<p>He also again rejected the prospect of Tehran imposing a toll for the Strait of Hormuz, another of Iran\u2019s previous demands.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a week that began with Donald Trump revealing he was just an hour away from \u201cmaking the decision\u201d to resume attacks on Iran, the United States president has oscillated between expressing hope for a lasting ceasefire and threatening military escalation. Trump\u2019s mixed messaging has also coincided with a renewed flurry of diplomacy, with Iran [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}