President Donald Trump of the United States issued a warning to Iran on Sunday, threatening bombings and secondary tariffs if Tehran did not reach an agreement with Washington regarding its nuclear program.
During a telephone interview with NBC News, Trump mentioned ongoing discussions between US and Iranian officials but did not provide 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.
The Republican President, during his first term in office, opted to withdraw the US from the 2015 deal between Iran and world powers, which imposed strict limits on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
Following the withdrawal, Trump reimposed significant US sanctions on Iran.
In response, Iran is reported to have exceeded the agreed limits on uranium enrichment.
Despite Trump’s warnings of military action if a deal is not reached, Iran has not shown compliance. It has been reported that Iran sent a response through Oman to Trump’s letter urging them to negotiate a new nuclear agreement.
Western powers accuse Iran of having a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability by enriching uranium to a high level of fissile purity, above what they say is justifiable for a civilian atomic energy program.
According to Tehran, its nuclear program is wholly for civilian energy purposes.
