US President Donald Trump said Thursday he believes 10 to 15 days is “enough time” for Iran to reach a deal, as Washington seeks Tehran to pledge an end to its nuclear programme.
Trump's latest threat comes as the second US aircraft carrier, its largest, nears the region amid a massive military buildup of US forces in the region.
“It’s proven to be, over the years, not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran, and we have to make a meaningful deal. Otherwise, bad things happen,” Trump said Thursday.
According to the New York-based Soufan Center think tank, “This week, another 50 US combat aircraft — F-35s,F-22s, and F-16s — were ordered to the region, supplementing the hundreds deployed to bases in the Arab Gulf states".
"The deployments reinforce Trump’s threat — restated on a nearly daily basis — to proceed with a major air and missile campaign on the regime if talks fail.”
Meanwhile, Iran on Thursday held annual military drills with Russia in a move that signalled Tehran would fight back if talks on its nuclear programme fizzle out.
Earlier this week, Iran conducted a drill that involved live-fire in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow opening of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes.
Nuclear programme status unclear
Tehran has said it has not been enriching uranium since the US and Israeli strikes last summer. Trump said at the time that the strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites, but the exact damage is unknown, as Tehran has barred international inspectors.
Iran has insisted its nuclear programme is peaceful. The US and others suspect it is aimed at eventually developing weapons.
In a letter to the UN Security Council on Thursday, Amir Saeid Iravani, the Iranian ambassador to the UN, said that while Iran does not seek “tension or war and will not initiate a war,” any US aggression will be responded to “decisively and proportionately.”
“In such circumstances, all bases, facilities, and assets of the hostile force in the region would constitute legitimate targets in the context of Iran’s defensive response,” Iravani said.
Tensions are also rising inside Iran, as mourners hold ceremonies honouring slain protesters 40 days after their killing by security forces. Some gatherings have seen anti-government chants despite threats from authorities.
Trump held off on striking Iran after setting red lines over the killing of peaceful protesters and mass executions in January, while reengaging in nuclear talks that were disrupted by the war in June.
Human rights groups and insiders in Iran believe as many as 30,000 people might have been killed in country-wide protests sparked in late December over persistent hyperinflation and a cost-of-living crisis.
Europe concerned
Meanwhile, there has been growing concern in Europe about the impending war between both sides and its wider implications for the Middle East.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk urged his nation’s citizens to immediately leave Iran, as “within a few, a dozen, or even a few dozen hours, the possibility of evacuation will be out of the question.”
He did not elaborate, and the Polish Embassy in Tehran did not appear to be drawing down its staff.
In Germany, the military said, in accordance with the efforts of its allies and in light of the existing circumstances in the Middle East, “a mid-two-digit number of non-mission-critical personnel" have been moved out of a base in northern Iraq.
It, however, said that some troops remain to help keep the multinational camp running in Iraq's Irbil, where they train Iraqi forces.
There are still some troops in Irbil to help maintain the multinational camp where Iraqi forces are trained, the military said.
