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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 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 in June.
“Like with Venezuela, [the fleet] is, ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfil 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 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 made the comments as the US deployed military assets to the region in recent weeks, including a strike group led by the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike the Islamic Republic over its crackdown on anti-regime protests.
While the president 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 maintain pressure on the regime.
Testifying on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said Iran’s “regime is probably weaker than it has ever been”.
Tehran did not have “a way to address the core complaints of the protesters, which is that their economy is in collapse”, Rubio added, predicting that more protests “will spark up again”.
Responding to Trump’s post on Wednesday, Iran’s permanent mission to the UN said: “Last time the U.S. blundered into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it squandered over $7 trillion and lost more than 7,000 American lives.”
It added: “Iran stands ready for dialogue based on mutual respect and interests — BUT IF PUSHED, IT WILL DEFEND ITSELF AND RESPOND LIKE NEVER BEFORE!”
Trump also tied any deal to Iran’s nuclear programme, 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 made reference to nuclear weapons despite his claim that US strikes on Tehran’s facilities had “obliterated” the Islamic Republic’s enrichment programme in June.
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 produce both 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, stoking fears of a regional conflict that could disrupt the oil trade.
Oil prices were slightly higher after Trump’s post, with the global benchmark Brent crude 0.4 per cent up 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.
Kazem Gharibabadi, the country’s deputy foreign minister, added that the regime was open to negotiations if they were “sincere” but cautioned that “the likelihood of war” was higher.
The US has “raised the idea of negotiations. The key issue is how serious it is about this proposal,” Gharibabadi said, warning that “if talks insist on surrender and if the agenda is pre-determined, no result will be achieved”.
Trump and senior US aides have declined to elaborate on the terms of any deal they have offered to the Iranian regime.
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 and James Politi in Washington and Bita Ghaffari in Tehran
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