Donald Trump has claimed that the US will bomb Iran if the Islamic regime fails to agree a new deal limiting its nuclear programme.
Speaking to NBC, Trump said: “If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing — bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”
And in separate remarks in the Oval Office, he added: “I sent them a letter just recently, and I said you have to make a decision, one way or the other, and we either have to talk it out, or very bad things are going to happen to Iran.
“I don’t want that to happen. My big preference – and I don’t say this through strength or weakness – is we work it out with Iran.
"But if we don’t work it out, bad, bad things are going to happen to Iran.”
The US and Iran already have an agreement in place designed to limit the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme, particularly in regard to the proliferation of nuclear weapons (something which Tehran has long denied attempting).
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, was agreed in 2015 under President Obama and has since counted Trump among its harshest critics. Indeed, Trump withdrew the US from the deal during his first term in office and imposed harsh sanctions on Iran instead.
Republicans more generally have long dismissed the deal as too weak to prevent the development of Iranian weapons and accused the Obama administration of indirectly financing terrorism via the payments included in the agreement. The UN has reported that the limits imposed by the plan have already been breached, specifically regarding the amount of uranium the regime has enriched in the period since.
In contrast to previous years Trump, now in his second term, has appeared more insistent on getting some form of agreement in place, albeit with tougher provisions than the 2015 version.
In that vein, he confirmed that negotiations are underway, saying “we are talking,” following his letter to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini, which imposed a two-month deadline to reach an agreement.
However, Tehran has rejected the suggestion that any direct talks have begun, suggesting that only indirect negotiation is currently in progress. And, in response to Washington’s threat of bombing, Khameini pledged to strike a “strong blow” against the US if it follows through.
Speaking after the prayer service marking Eid, the end of the month of Ramadan, he said: “The enmity from the US and Israel has always been there.
"They threaten to attack us, which we don’t think is very probable, but if they commit any mischief they will surely receive a strong reciprocal blow.
"And if they are thinking of causing sedition inside the country as in past years, the Iranian people themselves will deal with them.”
