US President Donald Trump mentioned he was contemplating a restricted strike on Iran after ordering a serious naval buildup within the Center East geared toward heaping stress on Tehran to chop a deal to curb its nuclear program.
The newest menace got here after Iran’s international minister mentioned a draft proposal for an settlement with Washington could be prepared in a matter of days following negotiations between the 2 sides in Geneva earlier this week.
Trump had instructed on Thursday that “dangerous issues” would occur if Tehran didn’t strike a deal inside 10 days, which he subsequently prolonged to fifteen.
Requested by a reporter on Friday whether or not he was considering a restricted army strike, Trump answered: “Probably the most I can say — I’m contemplating it.”
After the talks in Geneva, Tehran mentioned the 2 sides had agreed to submit drafts of a possible settlement, which Iranian International Minister Abbas Araghchi instructed US media could be the “subsequent step”.
“I imagine that within the subsequent two, three days, that might be prepared, and after ultimate affirmation by my superiors, that might be handed over to Steve Witkoff,” he mentioned, referring to Trump’s fundamental Center East negotiator.
Araghchi additionally mentioned US negotiators had not requested that Tehran finish its nuclear enrichment program, contradicting statements from American officers.
“Now we have not provided any suspension, and the US facet has not requested for zero enrichment,” he mentioned in an interview launched Friday by US TV community MS NOW.
“What we are actually speaking about is the best way to be sure that Iran’s nuclear program, together with enrichment, is peaceable and would stay peaceable endlessly,” he added.
His feedback stand in distinction to data relayed by high-ranking US officers, together with Trump, who has repeatedly mentioned Iran should not be allowed to complement uranium at any stage.
Western nations accuse the Islamic republic of searching for to amass nuclear weapons, which Tehran denies, though it insists on its proper to enrichment for civilian functions.
Iran, for its half, is searching for to barter an finish to sanctions which have confirmed to be a large drag on its economic system.
Financial hardships sparked protests in December that advanced right into a nationwide anti-government motion final month, prompting a crackdown from authorities.
‘No ultimatum’
Washington has pursued a major military build-up in the region in tandem with the talks, and both sides have traded threats of military action for weeks.
On Thursday, Trump again suggested that the US would attack Iran if it did not make a deal within the timeframe he laid out.
“We have to make a meaningful deal otherwise bad things happen,” Trump told the inaugural meeting of the “Board of Peace”, his initiative for the post-war Gaza Strip.
Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, warned that US bases, facilities and assets would be “legitimate targets” if the United States followed through on its threats.
Araghchi, however, insisted that “there is no ultimatum”.
“We only talk with each other how we can have a fast deal. And a fast deal is something that both sides are interested in,” he said.
“We are under sanctions, (so) obviously any day that sanctions are terminated sooner it would be better for us,” he said, adding Iran had “no reason to delay”.
Washington has repeatedly called for zero enrichment, but has also sought to address Iran’s ballistic missile program and its alleged support for militant groups in the region — issues which Israel has pushed to include in the talks.
The Israeli army said on Friday that it was on “defensive alert” regarding the situation with Iran, but that its guidelines for the public remained unchanged.
Ratcheting up the pressure, Trump has deployed a significant naval force to the region.
After sending the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and escort battleships to the Gulf in January, he ordered a second carrier, the Gerald Ford, to depart for the Middle East.
Subsequently, the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier was seen entering the Mediterranean Sea on Friday.
The carrier was seen transiting the Strait of Gibraltar — which links the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean — in a photo taken from the Gibraltar side of the strait.
Iranian naval forces also conducted military drills this week in the Gulf and around the strategic Strait of Hormuz in their own show of force.
