President Donald Trump warned Iran on Wednesday that a military response “far worse” than the June strike on its nuclear facilities would follow if Tehran fails to make a deal with the U.S.
The warning, posted on Trump’s Truth Social platform, came as a U.S. aircraft carrier and accompanying warships arrived in the Middle East on Monday to promote “regional security and stability.” The deployment follows the reported killing of thousands of Iranian civilians amid mass protests against the country’s Islamic regime.
Trump said the U.S. “Armada” is “ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary.”
“Hopefully Iran will quickly ‘Come to the Table’ and negotiate a fair and equitable deal – NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS – one that is good for all parties,” Trump wrote. “Time is running out, it is truly of the essence! As I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL! They didn’t, and there was ‘Operation Midnight Hammer,’ a major destruction of Iran. The next attack will be far worse! Don’t make that happen again.”
Trump has repeatedly warned Iranian leaders over their response to anti-government protests.
On Jan. 13, the president said the U.S. would “take very strong action” if Iran followed through on threats to execute detained protesters. A day later, Trump claimed the U.S. had been informed that the executions had been halted, saying he would be “very upset” if the crackdown continued.
Iran’s top prosecutor, Mohammad Movahedi, on Friday called Trump’s claims that he halted the hangings of 800 detained protesters “completely false.”
“We have a separation of powers, the responsibilities of each institution are clearly defined, and we do not, under any circumstances, take instructions from foreign powers,” Movahedi said.
The unrest began in late December in response to Iran’s struggling economy under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but evolved into a broader uprising against the country’s clerical regime.
Two senior officials from Iran’s Ministry of Health said the government’s internal death toll reached approximately 30,000 on Jan. 8 and 9 alone, according to TIME magazine.
Tehran has blamed Trump and the U.S. for fueling the unrest and warned it would retaliate by targeting U.S. military installations if Washington attacks Iran. It later launched retaliatory missiles at Al Udeid airbase after Trump ordered airstrikes that battered the country’s nuclear sites.
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