Trump Vows 'Bombing Like Never Before' If Iran Fails To Make Nuclear Deal, May Impose 'Secondary' Tariffs
His remarks came after Iran rejected direct negotiations with the United States in response to a letter from Trump, who had called for renewed nuclear negotiations.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Iran if it does not agree to a peace deal and persists in developing nuclear weapons.
“If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing. It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before," Trump said in an interview with NBC News on late Saturday, and he also threatened to punish Iran with what he called “secondary tariffs". He said US and Iranian officials were talking but did not elaborate.
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His remarks came after Iran rejected direct negotiations with the United States in response to a letter from Trump calling for renewed nuclear negotiations. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged Trump’s letter on Sunday.
“Although the possibility of direct negotiations between the two sides has been rejected in this response, it has been emphasised that the path for indirect negotiations remains open," said Pezeshkian.
Tehran has maintained its stance against direct negotiations under the current US “maximum pressure" campaign and the looming threat of military action as Iran-backed proxies Hamas and Hezbollah suffered heavy blows during Israel’s campaign in Gaza and Lebanon.
Earlier this month, Trump said he had sent a letter to Iran in a bid to negotiate a nuclear deal, saying that he hoped the latter would agree to talk. “I think they want to get that letter. The other alternative is we have to do something, because you can’t let another nuclear weapon," he said.
Iran has long maintained its program is for peaceful purposes, even as its officials increasingly threaten to pursue the bomb as tensions are high with the US over its sanctions and after the collapse of a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
A landmark 2015 deal negotiated under former president Barack Obama — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. It fell apart after Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in 2018 in his first presidential term and reimposed sweeping sanctions.
(with inputs from agencies)
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