"Negotiate a fair and equitable deal -- NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS," U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, otherwise the next U.S. attack on Iran "will be far worse." Tehran responded with a threat to strike back against the United States.
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.
"Time is running out, it is truly of the essence,” Trump added.
"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.
Any military action from the United States would 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 Araghchi warned on X that Iran’s armed forces are “prepared - with their fingers on the trigger to immediately and powerfully respond to ANY aggression against our beloved land, air, and sea.”
“The valuable lessons learned from the 12-day war have enabled us to respond even more strongly, rapidly, and profoundly,” Araghchi added.
At the same time, Araghchi said Iran has always welcomed a “mutually beneficial, fair and equitable” nuclear deal on equal footing and free from coercion, threats and intimidation that ensures Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear technology and guarantees that it will not pursue nuclear weapons.
“Such weapons have no place in our security calculations and we have NEVER sought to acquire them,” he said.
Araghchi said on Wednesday that Tehran has not requested negotiations with Washington, stressing that diplomacy cannot work under the pressure of military threats, according to state media IRNA.
The Iranian Foreign Minister also said he has not been in contact with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in recent days and has not requested negotiations, state media reported.
Trump said a U.S. naval force headed by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was approaching Iran.
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 programme 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 denuclearisation and other issues.
The European Union was poised to include Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on its list of terrorist organisations after France said on Wednesday it would support the move.
European Union foreign ministers will meet in Brussels on Thursday (29 January) and are due to sign off on new sanctions in response to Iran's crackdown on the protests.
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Saudi Aramco has ordered staff to evacuate its headquarters amid escalating Houthi attacks on the kingdom. Two people were killed in an attack on Dammam airport, while Iran's IRGC Navy claimed strikes on seven vessels and warned the U.S. of a wider response.
Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight killed at least two people and injured 15 others, including two children, Ukrainian authorities said. Meanwhile, Russia said it had intercepted the vast majority of 630 Ukrainian drones launched towards Moscow.
Israeli military bulldozers have begun demolishing buildings in the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday, 23 October, following armed clashes with Palestinians that left two Israeli soldiers dead, according to the Israeli military.
Super typhoon Champi is set to batter Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture from Friday (23 October), bringing violent winds, torrential rain and waves up to 11 metres high, as airlines cancel flights and organisers scrap a major festival.
A powerful magnitude 7 earthquake has struck Tibet in southwestern China, killing 16 people and injuring 65, while forcing more than 12,000 residents to relocate as rescue teams respond to widespread aftershocks.
Armenian authorities have detained 10 more people in a vote-buying investigation involving the opposition Strong Armenia party, just two days before local elections in the northern town of Stepanavan.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met India’s Minister of External Affairs in Baku for talks on strengthening bilateral relations, with a focus on trade, investment, energy and technology.
Israeli military bulldozers have begun demolishing buildings in the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday, 23 October, following armed clashes with Palestinians that left two Israeli soldiers dead, according to the Israeli military.
Greece’s parliament has passed a bill banning under-15s from using social media from 1 January 2027, as the country steps up efforts to protect children online. The new law will require platforms to enforce age restrictions.
France's Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Friday that 70,000 security forces would be mobilised throughout the country to keep order on Saturday, adding there have been calls for looting and violence from the ultra-left.
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