The Middle East remained in tense limbo on Tuesday, a day after President Trump said he had postponed a major U.S. attack on Iran to give more time for diplomacy.<\/p>\n
Iran did not immediately respond directly to Mr. Trump\u2019s remarks. An Iranian Army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Mohammad Akraminia, warned on Tuesday that any renewed attack would prompt Iran to open \u201cnew fronts” using \u201cnew tools and methods,\u201d according to IRNA, Iran\u2019s state news agency.<\/p>\n
For his part, Mr. Trump was vague when asked on Tuesday how long Iran had to return to the negotiating table. \u201cTwo or three days. Maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Maybe early next week. A limited period of time,” he told reporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope we don\u2019t have to do the war, but we may have to give them another big hit,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019m not sure yet. You’ll know very soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the monthlong cease-fire<\/a> has come under increasing strain, Pakistan, a mediator in the conflict<\/a>, has sought to keep indirect talks alive between Tehran and Washington. Iranian state media reported that Pakistan\u2019s interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, had met Iran\u2019s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, in Tehran on Monday evening, and discussed efforts to end the war.<\/p>\n The Pakistani government has not commented on the two-day trip, which reportedly started on Sunday. Mr. Naqvi is close to Pakistan\u2019s army chief, Asim Munir, who has been leading the country\u2019s mediation efforts and speaking directly with Mr. Trump and Iranian officials, according to two people with knowledge of the negotiations, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.<\/p>\n Tasnim, a semiofficial Iranian news agency, described Mr. Naqvi\u2019s visit to Tehran as part of Pakistan\u2019s efforts to \u201cfacilitate dialogue and promote regional peace.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Trump said on Monday<\/a> that he had authorized a \u201cvery major attack\u201d against Iran for Tuesday, but had postponed it after the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates asked for more time to pursue an agreement over Iran\u2019s nuclear program. He said there was a \u201cvery good chance\u201d that a deal could be reached but that the U.S. military was prepared for a \u201cfull, large scale assault\u201d if Iran did not agree to terms acceptable to Washington.<\/p>\n