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Donald Trump has warned Iran that “time is running out” to reach a deal to avert US military action as he said a fleet of ships was ready to undertake a mission he compared to Washington’s recent operation in Venezuela.
Writing on his Truth Social account on Wednesday, the US president reiterated that a “massive Armada is heading to Iran”, adding that “it is moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose”.
He also warned that any attack would be greater than the US strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities last June.
“Like with Venezuela, [the fleet] is, ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary,” Trump wrote, in a reference to this month’s US capture of strongman Nicolás Maduro.
“Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!” the US president added. “As I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL! They didn’t, and there was ‘Operation Midnight Hammer,’ a major destruction of Iran. The next attack will be far worse!”
Trump’s comments come as the US has deployed military assets to the region in recent weeks, including a strike group led by the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier.
The US president has repeatedly threatened to strike the Islamic Republic over its recent crackdown on anti-regime protests.
While Trump appeared to have been appeased after claiming that Tehran had cancelled more than 800 executions of detained protesters, the US later deployed additional military assets to the region in an apparent effort to keep pressure on the regime.
In his post on Wednesday, he said Iran’s nuclear programme had to be part of any deal, calling on Tehran to restrict its capabilities.
“Hopefully Iran will quickly ‘Come to the Table’ and negotiate a fair and equitable deal — NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS — one that is good for all parties,” he wrote.
Trump’s reference to nuclear weapons comes despite claims by the White House that US strikes on Tehran’s facilities in June had eliminated the Islamic Republic’s ability to develop such weapons.
Iran denies it has sought to build nuclear weapons and insists its atomic programme is for peaceful civilian use.
The US has previously demanded Iran agree to halt all uranium enrichment, a process that can both produce nuclear fuel and weapons-grade material. Tehran has ruled out meeting such a demand.
Anxiety is rising among Gulf states over the prospect of US strikes and Iran’s threats of retaliation, fuelling fears of a regional conflict that could disrupt the oil trade.
Oil prices rose slightly after Trump’s posts, with the global benchmark Brent crude 0.3 per cent higher on the session at just below $68 a barrel.
Washington and Tehran had been in discussions over curbing Iran’s nuclear capabilities before Israel launched its 12-day war against Iran in June, which the US briefly joined.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that Tehran was in touch with unnamed countries acting as “middle men” in its discussions with Washington.
Trump and senior US aides have declined to elaborate on the terms of any deal they have offered to the Iranian regime.
“With regard to Iran, we are open for business,” if the regime were to make a proposal to the White House, a senior administration official told reporters on Monday. “They know what the terms are,” the official added, declining to elaborate.
The US’s seizure of Maduro paved the way for his exfiltration to the US to face criminal charges.
The commando raid followed a major military build-up in the Caribbean as Trump sought to dial up the pressure on Maduro, who was designated by Washington as the leader of a “narco-terrorist” drug cartel.
Additional reporting by Abigail Hauslohner in Washington and Bita Ghaffari in Tehran
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
