- By Shubham Bajpai
- Wed, 29 Apr 2026 11:25 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The United States has prepared a plan to target Iran in what could be a renewed escalation of the West Asia war. The US plan includes a short yet powerful wave of strikes on Iran.
According to a report by Axios, citing three sources with knowledge of the matter, the plan prepared by the United States Command (CENTCOM) aims to break the negotiating deadlock.
Trump's 'No More Mr Nice Guy' threat to Iran
Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump shared a picture of himself, wearing black aviators and holding a gun, with several explosions on seemingly Iranian territory in the background.
The picture had a slogan, "No More Mr Nice Guy!" Trump's post showed his frustration over the delay and deadlock in negotiations as he called out the Iranian leadership for allegedly being incapable of signing a non-nuclear deal.
"Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a non-nuclear deal. They'd better get smart soon! President DJT," he wrote in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Ceasefire, then deadlock
Tehran and Washington reached a roadblock after the first round of negotiations in Islamabad failed on April 12. Irked by the failure of the marathon meet in Islamabad, Trump imposed a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz on April 13.
This has become a new flashpoint between the two warring countries as Tehran imposed a strict condition to lift the blockade for further talks.
Meanwhile, the two-week ceasefire, which was set to end on April 22, was extended to an indefinite deadline by Trump.
While the US delegation was all set to visit Islamabad around April 25-26 for the second round of negotiations, it was cancelled by the US President over Iran's adamant demand of lifting the blockade first and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's departure from Islamabad without confirmation about further negotiations.
Soon thereafter, Tehran resorted to diplomatic channels and sent a fresh proposal to Washington. However, reports suggest that Trump was "unhappy" with the Iranian proposal and was likely to reject it.
Diplomatic stalemate risks end to ceasefire
The bone of contention between the two countries is the Iranian nuclear program, which, according to the US officials, was the motive for launching the war. Agreeing to the Iranian proposal would leave the nukes out of talks.
This diplomatic impasse risks the end of an indefinite unilateral extension of the ceasefire that has kept West Asia largely peaceful for nearly weeks.