US President Donald Trump issued a stern warning to Iran on Sunday, threatening bombings and secondary tariffs unless Tehran agrees to negotiate with Washington regarding its nuclear program.
In a telephone interview with NBC News, Trump confirmed that US and Iranian officials were engaged in discussions but provided no further details.
“If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing. But there’s a chance that if they don’t make a deal, that I will do secondary tariffs on them like I did four years ago,” he said.
During his first term from 2017 to 2021, Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear agreement, which had set strict restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief. Following the withdrawal, Trump reinstated extensive sanctions on Iran.
In response, Iran significantly exceeded the uranium enrichment limits initially agreed upon in the nuclear deal.
Tehran has thus far rejected Trump’s ultimatum of either negotiating a new agreement or facing military repercussions.
It was reported that Iran recently communicated a response through Oman to Trump’s proposal for a new nuclear agreement.
Western nations have repeatedly accused Iran of secretly seeking nuclear weapons capabilities by enriching uranium to higher levels than required for peaceful civilian purposes. Iran maintains that its nuclear program is exclusively for civilian energy production.
