WASHINGTON, DC – President Donald Trump said Thursday (Friday, Manila time) that Iran had at most 15 days to make a deal on concerns starting with its nuclear program, suggesting the United States would attack if it did not.
“We’re either going to get a deal or it’s going to be unfortunate for them,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.
Asked about his timeline, Trump said, “I would think that would be enough time — 10, 15 days, pretty much maximum.”
Trump earlier Thursday had suggested 10 days for Iran’s clerical state to reach an agreement.
“It’s proven to be over the years not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran. We have to make a meaningful deal otherwise bad things happen,” Trump told the inaugural meeting of the “Board of Peace,” his initiative to secure stability in Gaza.
He warned at the event in Washington that the United States “may have to take it a step further” without any agreement, adding: “You’re going to be finding out over the next probably 10 days.”
Trump’s friend and roving envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner met Tuesday indirectly in Geneva with Iran’s top diplomat, who said that there was progress.
The talks come a month after Iranian authorities killed thousands of people as they crushed one of the biggest threats yet to the Islamic republic established in the 1979 revolution that toppled the pro-Western shah.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to hold talks on February 28 in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has long advocated tough action against Tehran and ordered a bombing campaign last year.
But Iran warned that US bases, facilities and assets would be “legitimate targets” if the United States follows through on its military threats and attacks.
Amir Saeid Iravani, the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, made the remarks in a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the president of the Security Council that was seen by AFP.
Trump has deployed warships, fighter jets and other military hardware to the Middle East as he seeks to block Iran from building a nuclear bomb, something Tehran says it is not pursuing.
The letter cited a social media post by Trump on Wednesday, where he said the United States may need to use UK military bases, including one on an Indian Ocean island, “should Iran decide not to make a deal.”
“Such a belligerent statement by the President of the United States…signals a real risk of military aggression, the consequences of which would be catastrophic for the region and would constitute a grave threat to international peace and security,” Iravani wrote in the letter.
He called for the Security Council — the UN’s top decision-making body where Washington has veto power — to “ensure that the United States immediately ceases its unlawful threats of the use of force.”
The letter said Iran remains committed “to diplomatic solutions” and “on a reciprocal basis, addressing ambiguities regarding its peaceful nuclear program.”
But Iravani warned if Iran faced military aggression, “all bases, facilities, and assets of the hostile force in the region would constitute legitimate targets in the context of Iran’s defensive response.”
Trump has repeatedly threatened military action against Iran, citing a deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters last month then more recently over its nuclear program.
“It’s proven to be over the years not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran. We have to make a meaningful deal otherwise bad things happen,” Trump told the inaugural meeting of the “Board of Peace,” his initiative to secure stability in Gaza.
He warned that Washington “may have to take it a step further” without any agreement, adding: “You’re going to be finding out over the next probably 10 days.”
Trump’s comments came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued his own warning to Iran saying, “If the ayatollahs make a mistake and attack us, they will receive a response they cannot even imagine.”
The warnings were issued days after the US and Iran held a second round of Omani-mediated talks, this time in Geneva, with the US seeking to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb, something it says it is not pursuing, and Iran seeking relief from US sanctions.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt warned on Wednesday there were “many reasons and arguments that one could make for a strike against Iran”.
“Iran would be very wise to make a deal with President Trump.”
Trump has repeatedly threatened military action against Iran, at first over a deadly crackdown on protesters last month then more recently over its nuclear program.
Iran’s atomic energy chief on Thursday said “no country can deprive Iran of the right” to nuclear enrichment, following fresh US warnings that there were “many reasons” to strike the Islamic republic.
A previous attempt at negotiations collapsed when Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran last June, beginning a 12-day war that Washington briefly joined to bomb Iranian nuclear sites.
CNN and CBS reported on Wednesday that the US military would be ready to launch strikes against Iran as early as this weekend, though Trump has reportedly not made a final decision yet.
The Wall Street Journal meanwhile reported that Trump had been briefed on his military options with “all of them designed to maximize damage”, including a campaign to “kill scores of Iranian political and military leaders, with the goal of overthrowing the government”, unnamed US officials told the newspaper.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said after the latest talks that Tehran had agreed with Washington on “guiding principles”, but US Vice President JD Vance said Iran had not yet acknowledged all of Washington’s red lines.
Speaking on Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian insisted “We do not want war” but suggested Tehran could not give in to US demands.
Amid the escalating warnings, Poland on Thursday ordered all its citizens in Iran to “leave immediately”.
Germany meanwhile moved troops out of northern Iraq, reducing its footprint to the minimum necessary to keep its base there functional, citing regional tensions.
Russia called for restraint, with a Kremlin spokesperson saying, “We are currently witnessing an unprecedented escalation of tension in the region, but we still hope that political and diplomatic means and negotiations will continue to prevail in the search for a settlement.”
