President Donald Trump issued a stark warning to Iran on Friday, cautioning that dire consequences await if Tehran refuses to strike a deal regarding its nuclear ambitions.
“Iran is very high on my list of things to watch, and as you probably know, I sent them a letter just recently, and I said, ‘You’re going to have to make a decision one way or the other,’” Trump told reporters during a briefing at the White House.
He continued, emphasizing the urgency of the situation: “And we’re going to either have to talk and talk it out, or very bad things are going to happen to Iran, and I don’t want that to happen.”
Making clear that he favors diplomacy over conflict, the President said, “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.”
According to Axios, the message Trump sent to Iran reportedly imposed a two-month window for the Iranian regime to come to the table or face intensified economic penalties under the United States’ “maximum pressure” strategy.
In response, Iran’s highest authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, outright dismissed the American initiative, branding it “a deception” and warning that entering negotiations with the Trump White House would only “tighten the knot of sanctions and increase pressure on Iran.”
Despite Khamenei’s dismissal, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi revealed on Thursday that Tehran had delivered a reply to President Trump’s message through the mediation of Oman.
“Our policy is still to not engage in direct negotiations while under maximum pressure and military threats, however, as it was the case in the past, indirect negotiations can continue,” Araqchi stated, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
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