Trump says US ‘armada’ near Iran, issues stark warning over nuclear program

President Donald Trump urged Iran on Wednesday to come to the table and make a deal on nuclear weapons or the next U.S. attack would be far worse. Tehran responded with a threat to strike back against the United States, Israel and those who support them.

“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. Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!” Trump wrote on social media.

Amid a buildup of U.S. forces in the Middle East, the Republican president, who pulled out of world powers’ 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran during his first White House term, noted that his last warning to Iran was followed by a military strike in June.

“The next attack will be far worse! Don’t make that happen again,” Trump wrote. He repeated that a U.S. “armada” was heading toward the Islamic Republic.

IRAN’S ARMED FORCES READY TO RESPOND: MINISTER

Any military action from the United States will result in Iran targeting the U.S., Israel and those who support it, Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in a post on X on Wednesday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi warned on X that Iran’s armed forces “are prepared – with their fingers on the trigger – to immediately and powerfully respond to ANY aggression.”

“At the same time,” Araqchi added, “Iran has always welcomed a mutually beneficial, fair and equitable NUCLEAR DEAL – on equal footing, and free from coercion, threats, and intimidation – which ensures Iran’s rights to PEACEFUL nuclear technology, and guarantees NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS.”

Araqchi said earlier he had not been in contact with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in recent days or requested negotiations, state media reported on Wednesday.

TRUMP SAYS WARSHIPS APPROACHING IRAN

Trump said a U.S. naval force headed by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was approaching Iran. Two U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday the Lincoln and supporting warships had arrived in the Middle East.

The warships started moving from the Asia-Pacific region last week as U.S.-Iranian tensions soared following a bloody crackdown on protests across Iran by its clerical authorities in recent weeks.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene if Iran continued to kill protesters, but the countrywide demonstrations over economic privations and political repression have since abated.

He has said the United States would act if Tehran resumed its nuclear program after the June airstrikes by Israeli and U.S. forces on key nuclear installations.

Earlier on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a congressional committee the Iranian government is probably weaker than it has ever been and its economy is in collapse. He predicted that street protests will spark up again.

But according to multiple U.S. intelligence reports, while the economic conditions that sparked the protests remain, the upper ranks of the Iranian government appear to be intact with no major fractures, two people familiar with the matter said.

A U.S. official told Reuters that Trump has not made up his mind on a military strike and that the Iranian government’s weakened state makes it advantageous for the United States to press for a deal on denuclearization and other issues.

The European Union was poised to include Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on its list of terrorist organizations after France said on Wednesday it would support the move.

EU foreign ministers will meet in Brussels on Thursday and are due to sign off on new sanctions in response to Iran’s crackdown on the protests.