WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Iran with more bombing Wednesday if it doesn’t reopen the Strait of Hormuz after a report that an agreement is emerging to end the war.

Trump posted on social media that the war with Iran could soon end and oil and natural gas shipments could restart. But that all depends on Iran accepting a reported agreement that the U.S. president did not detail.

“If they don’t agree, the bombing starts,” Trump wrote.

Trump’s threats came after China’s foreign minister called for a comprehensive ceasefire in the Iran war following a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who was visiting Beijing for the first time since the war with the U.S. and Israel started Feb. 28.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday his country was “deeply distressed” by the conflict.

China’s close economic and political ties to Tehran give it a unique position of influence. The Trump administration is pressing China to use that relationship to urge the Islamic Republic to open the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said Tuesday that he was pausing his short-lived U.S. effort to guide stranded commercial vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz in hopes that a deal could be finalized. A shaky ceasefire has been largely holding, despite exchanges of fire during the U.S. push to reopen the strait on Monday.

Hundreds of merchant ships remain bottled up in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. said it had opened a safe shipping lane Monday and sunk six small Iranian boats that had threatened commercial ships in the strait. Only two merchant ships are known to have passed through the U.S.-guarded route.

But Trump announced he was pausing the effort, dubbed Project Freedom, to see whether an agreement with Tehran on ending the war could be reached.

In a social media post Tuesday, Trump said the move was based “on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran.”

Pakistan has been mediating between the U.S. and Iran, and had hosted peace talks between the two sides.

On Wednesday, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump for what he described as a timely announcement of a pause in the effort to guide ships out of the strait.

In a post on X, Sharif said Trump’s response to requests from Pakistan and other countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, would help advance regional peace, stability and reconciliation.

“Pakistan remains firmly committed to supporting all efforts that promote restraint and a peaceful resolution of conflicts through dialogue and diplomacy,” Sharif said. “We are very hopeful that the current momentum will lead to a lasting agreement that secures durable peace and stability for the region and beyond.”

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Castillo reported from Beijing. Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece. Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Pakistan, Toqa Ezzidin in Cairo and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed.